After a virtual tie, it was determined to give two websites the 2009 GSIS Best Website Award.

Congratulations to the creators of:

1) DISCOVERING ANTARCTICA
http://www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk/

Developed by the Royal Geographical Society in partnership with the British Antarctic Survey and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Comments by reviewers: “The range of topics, (physical, biological, human impact), and the manner in which they organized those topics in non-traditional but logical subdivisions is the leading point. The presentation of the facts, sometimes integrated with human experiences or subjective feelings, and sometimes posed as questions to the user, was another notable feature. A third point is the effective integration of mixed media components which added to the instructional value but wasn't distractive. Final point is the pleasing and relatively uncluttered layout. The colors were not too strong as they unfortunately are in a lot of sites; and it was easy to go back and forth within and between sections. ” (Kawula)

“Discovering Antarctica has a pleasing, well-organized visual display. The site contains an interesting mixture of multimedia and activities. I think this is a well designed site that has a great fit for its audience and purpose. I also like that they have a page about issues with accessibility. ”(Tolliver)

2) ON THE CUTTING EDGE
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/

Produced by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers. Dr. Heather Macdonald, Chancellor Professor of Geology, College of William and Mary, heads up the website team.

Comments by reviewers: “This site has a reasonably simple layout. It contains a variety of types of resources including multimedia. I like how it provides access to information on improving teaching as well as the subject matter. Many of the pages have additional navigation aids in the form of boxes that help narrow the topic by subject or resources type. I think it could use some improvement in the layout of the of the pages below the home page to improve the ease of finding the right information, but it is much better than most similar sites. ” (Tolliver)

“This is an interesting thematic collection of instruction related resources. At first it appears a bit heavy on promoting their own workshops, But the section on Geoscience Topics and Themes overcomes this point. There are a lot of instruction guides out there but this one focuses on taking new discoveries and research and working them fairly quickly into classroom settings. Well organized and fairly easy to use. Interesting side-bar on the left adds interpretative comments and additional material. ”(Kawula)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
October 24, 2008

Manson Presented with 2008 Distinguished Service Award

Geology librarian Connie J. Manson of Olympia, Washington was honored by the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS) on October 7 for her service to the profession.  At a ceremony held at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting in Houston, Manson was presented with the GSIS Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award. 

For many years Manson served as Geology Librarian at the Washington Division of Natural Resources, where she published more than one hundred bibliographies on the geology, mineral resources, urban planning, and natural hazards of the state.  She also compiled several volumes of Index to Geologic and Geophysical Mapping of Washington.  “Improving access to geoscience information from government agencies has been a hallmark of Connie’s career,” according to Patricia B. Yocum (University of Michigan), chair of the selection committee.  “Connecting information with people is a core value which Connie exemplifies in her approach to her work.”  Prior to her work in Washington, Manson worked at the Wyoming Department of Economic Planning and Development, where she published several books.

Manson served as editor of the GSIS Newsletter from 1986 to 2007, taking only one respite while serving as the Society’s vice-president/president/past-president in 1997-1999.  While in office she edited The Costs and Values of Geoscience Information, co-edited Accreting the Continent's Collections, and participated in organizing the Sixth International Conference on Geoscience Information, held in Washington, D.C. in 1998.  She subsequently edited the conference proceedings, Science Editing and Information Management, published in 1999.  In the 1990s she compiled two editions of the Society’s widely-used Directory of Geoscience Libraries, United States and Canada. She served as the GSIS representative to the Geological Society of America’s Publications Committee, among other appointments.

Commenting on Manson’s award, longtime colleague Jim O’Donnell (Caltech) summarized:  “Connie has always been willing to mentor and encourage new members to the profession. She is noted for the extraordinary efforts she will make to help a patron or a fellow librarian find the information they’re seeking.  She’s been an enthusiastic and productive member of both GSIS and the profession.”    

Manson is currently working with the American Geological Institute on special bibliographic projects for GeoRef, the world’s leading database of geoscience literature.

GSIS is an international professional organization devoted to improving the exchange of information in the earth sciences.  The membership consists of librarians, editors, cartographers, educators, and information professionals. Information about the Society may be found at its website www.geoinfo.org.

Photo:  Patricia B. Yocum, at left, presents the 2008 Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award to Connie J. Manson in Houston.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
October 24, 2008

Top Website Award for 2008 Honors Encyclopedia of Earth

 Encyclopedia of Earth (EoE), an open-access electronic resource with thousands of authoritative, objective articles on environment, climate, and general earth sciences, has been awarded the 2008 Best Website Award of the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS).

The Encyclopedia is a project of the Environmental Information Coalition of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.  NCSE’s executive director, Peter Saundry, accepted the award at the Geological Society of America annual meeting in Houston on October 7.  Saundry stated that “our goal is to make the Encyclopedia of Earth the largest reliable information resource on the environment in history.”

EoE consists of original contributions by individuals who are expert in their fields as evidenced by their research, teaching, publishing, and public outreach, and of content derived from partner organizations and other open content sources.  Articles are written in non-technical language and stress the interaction between society and the Earth’s physical and biological systems.  Quality is maintained through a strict editorial process.

The Best Website Award has been presented by GSIS annually since 2002 to a site which exemplifies outstanding standards of content, design, organization, and overall site effectiveness.  In selecting EoE, the award committee noted the Encyclopedia “offers the educated lay person so much that they can miss by trying to wade through mountains of important but dry [and] confusing journal articles.”  They praised its design concept, which strikes a balance between predetermined editorial content and a free-lance wikipedia style.  EoE is accessible online at www.eoearth.org.

The Geoscience Information Society is an international professional organization devoted to improving the exchange of information in the earth sciences.  The membership consists of librarians, editors, cartographers, educators, and information professionals. Information about the Society may be found at its website www.geoinfo.org.

Photo:  Peter Saundry (National Council for Science and the Environment), at left, accepts the Best Website Award for 2008 from GSIS Webmaster Jim O’Donnell (Caltech) at the GSA annual meeting in Houston.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2008 

Geoscience Publications receive Top Honors in Houston

The Geoscience Information Society (GSIS) recognized three outstanding earth science publications at its October 7 awards ceremony, held at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting in Houston.

Encyclopedia of the Solar System, second edition, edited by Lucy-Ann McFadden, Paul R. Weissman, and Torrence V. Johnson, received the Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award.  Published by Elsevier/Academic Press in 2007, the Encyclopedia is “probably the definitive single-volume work on the solar system,” according to Angelique Jenks-Brown, who chaired the selection committee.  “The illustrations and overall quality are outstanding.  With few books like this available, this text is essential to an academic collection.”  Torrence Johnson accepted the prize on behalf of the 56 specialists who contributed to the Encyclopedia.  The Ansari Award has been presented by GSIS annually since 1988 and honors an outstanding reference work in the field of geoscience information published during the previous three years. 

Photo right:  Angelique Jenks-Brown (Binghamton, SUNY) presents the 2008 Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award to Torrence Johnson (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).

Rifts, Diabase, and the Topographic “Fishhook”:  Terrain and Military Geology of the Battle of Gettysburg—July 1-2, 1863 (Pennsylvania Geological Survey Open-File Report 06-02) was awarded the prize for the best field trip guidebook.   The work was revised and expanded from a 2004 guidebook of the same title and authorship by Jon D. Inners, Roger J. Cuffey, Robert C. Smith, II, John C. Neubaum, Richard C. Keen, Gary M. Fleeger, Lewis Butts, Helen L. Delano, Victor A. Newbaum, and Richard H. Howe.  The guidebook examines the geology and geography of the Gettysburg region and the role they played in the military aspects of the battle.  In announcing the selection, Guidebook Committee awards chair Jody Bales Foote cited the publication’s blending of history with geology.  “It’s an example of how a geological publication can be used to promote an interest in the geosciences for the general public,” Foote observed.  The Committee commended the work’s color photographs, detailed road load, and online format.  They noted it conformed to all the requirements established in the GSIS Guidelines for Authors, Editors, and Publishers of Geologic Field Trip Guidebooks.

Photo left:  Helen Delano (Pennsylvania Geological Survey), at left, attended the ceremony to accept the Best Guidebook Award from Jody Bales Foote (University of Oklahoma) on behalf of her co-authors.

Lura E. Joseph (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) was presented with the 2008 GSIS Best Paper Award for her paper titled “Comparison of Retrieval Performance of Eleven Online Indexes Containing Information Related to Quaternary Research, an Interdisciplinary Science.”  It was published in Reference & User Services Quarterly (vol. 47, pp. 56-75) in 2007.  Joseph is the university’s Geology and Digital Projects Librarian and Associate Professor of Library Administration.  In presenting the award, selection committee chair Carol La Russa stated “The Committee was impressed with the way Joseph demonstrated the benefits of searching multiple databases to achieve comprehensive results for this multi-disciplinary topic.”  While a small number of databases provide most of the retrievals for quaternary science, Joseph’s research showed that access to other databases is necessary for their unique content.  “Having such evidence is very useful in this time of budget cuts and pressures to limit library subscriptions to databases,” La Russa added.

The Geoscience Information Society is an international professional organization devoted to improving the exchange of information in the earth sciences.  The membership consists of librarians, editors, cartographers, educators, and information professionals. Information about the Society may be found at its website www.geoinfo.org.

Photo right:  Lura Joseph (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), at left, accepts the 2008 GSIS Best Paper Award from Carol La Russa (University of California, Davis) for her research on bibliographic database retrieval in Quaternary science.

updated Sept. 2, 2009 02:33 PM,  GSIS Webmaster