Geoscience Information Society

The Guidebooks Committee of the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS) is accepting nominations for the 2023 Best Guidebook Award(s) and Outstanding Geologic Field Trip Guidebook Series award. Geologic field trip guidebooks from any region that were produced from 2021-2023 can be considered for the award, which is awarded in the fall at the annual meeting of the Geoscience Information Society. Via these awards, the GSIS seeks to recognize the value of guidebooks and reward examples of excellence. In addition to being outstanding in content, the nominated titles will be evaluated according to the criteria outlined in the Guidelines for Authors, Editors, and Publishers of Geologic Field Trip Guidebooks published by GSIS. A list of previous winners can be found online. Awards will be given in the following categories:

 Best Guidebook Award(s) – The purpose of these awards is to recognize examples of excellence in geologic field trip guidebooks, with awards in popular and professional categories.

 Outstanding Geologic Field Trip Guidebook Series award – The purpose of this award is to recognize organizations that have made continued contributions to the geologic field trip genre over time.

Nominations, consisting of the title and bibliographic information (author, publisher, etc.) of the work or series, should be sent to the chair of the Guidebooks Committee. The committee will begin the selection process in July.

Kristen Adams, chair, GSIS Guidebooks Committee (adamsk3@miamioh.edu)

Shaun Hardy represented the GSIS at long-time member Sharon Tahirkheli’s retirement celebration from the American Geosciences Institute today, March 31, 2023.  Following is the statement that was read:

On behalf of the members of the Geoscience Information Society, I want to congratulate Sharon on her pending retirement. Over her career, Sharon has been an influential force in the development of the geoscience information ecosystem, from GeoRef to GeoScienceWorld. For decades, in this millennium and the previous, Sharon has been active in the Geoscience Information Society, serving as president and in various other roles within the organization. Her strong advocacy of the importance of field trip guidebooks to the geosciences led to the creation of the open access resource the Geologic Guidebooks of North America Database, a collaboration with the Geoscience Information Society. Sharon’s support for collaborative endeavors are numerous- too many to list today – as are her contributions to the scholarly record. We, her colleagues in the Geoscience Information Society, salute her accomplishments and wish her much joy in retirement. — Linda Musser, GSIS President

The Open Science Recognition Prize is awarded to a person or team for outstanding work in advancing Open Science related to Earth and space science and its impact globally. The winners will be chosen from nominations across the Earth and space science community. Applications will be selected from those that advance Open Science through creation or use of open data, software, and other open results.

https://www.agu.org/Honor-and-Recognize/Honors/Union-Prizes/Open-Science-Recognition-Prize

The Newest issue of the GSIS Newsletter (Number 296 Winter, 2023) is now available HERE.

It is chock-full of content, thank you to all of the contributors!

Newsletter Highlights include:
President’s & Vice President’s Columns
Book Review: Switching to ArcGIS Pro from ArcMap
Musings
Movin’ & Shakin’ (Member News)
An Overview and History of the GSIS Common Read
New Geoscience Open Access Publications & OA News
2023 GSIS Committees
Association of Earth Science Editors Annual Meeting
ASLI Report
Article: Changing the Narrative About the Geosciences
2023 GSIS Budget

The GSIS Executive Board will be meeting semi-monthly throughout 2023. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for the officers, please send them to the president, Linda Musser at lindamusser@psu.edu. The newsletter will document some of the decisions and activities.

The Geoscience Information Society (GSIS) is pleased to announce that Emily C. Wild, the Chemistry, Geosciences and Environmental Studies Librarian at Lewis Science Library, Princeton University is the recipient of the 2022 GSIS Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award.

As noted by colleague Lori Tschirhart, Emily’s “career spans over twenty years as both hydrologist and librarian. These dual roles together with her enthusiasm for sharing scientific information have enabled Emily to make profound contributions to the geoscience profession.”

 Emily earned a Bachelor of Arts in Geology from Hartwick College and a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Rhode Island.  She previously worked as a hydrologist and librarian at the U.S. Geological Survey from 1996 to 2018. Currently, her scholarly interests include library instruction; reference, citation and data management; raw and geospatial datasets; and physical and laboratory sampling methods.

Emily has been an active member of the Geoscience Information Society since joining in 2010.  She served as President, Vice-President and Past President for two terms (2019-2022 and 2013-2016). Since 2019 she has been an instructor in “Geoscience Librarianship 101”, the Society’s annual professional development webinar. She has also been the Geonet discussion list moderator since 2018, where she shares materials (through workshops, webinars and other formats) to the scientific community.

The Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award was established in 2005 to recognize and honor significant contributions to the geoscience information profession. Named for the late Mary B. Ansari, a past GSIS President and strong supporter of the Society, the award is presented at the annual meeting and is accompanied by a monetary gift and engraved plaque. More information about her life and career can be found on Legacy.com. Past awardees are listed on the Society’s website at https://www.geoinfo.org/distinguished-service.

Please contact me if you are interested in participating in one of the GSIS committees. Appointments will be finalized in January.

The New GSIS Newsletter for Fall, 2022 has been posted and can be found here.

Registration is now open for “Geoscience Librarianship 101” (GL101) – a free webinar on November 1-2 that introduces new librarians and library/information science students to some of the core areas of geoscience librarianship. GL101 is presented annually by members of the Geoscience Information Society and also provides experienced librarians a refresher overview, offering a chance to network with colleagues and view current issues and concerns of the profession.  Princeton University Library will host the webinar.

Participants are encouraged to attend both days but may opt to attend individual sessions.  The complete presentation schedule appears below.  Register for GL101 here.  For questions about the program, please contact coordinators Clara P. McLeod (Washington University in St. Louis) at cpmcleod@wustl.edu or Stephanie Earls (Washington Geological Survey) at stephanie.earls@dnr.wa.gov .

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

3:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Welcome
Clara McLeod, Earth and Planetary Sciences Librarian
Washington University in St. Louis

3:15-3:45 pm (Eastern Time)
Introduction to Geosciences Librarianship: Twenty-Seven Years of Research Inquiries
Emily Wild, Chemistry, Geosciences and Environmental Studies Librarian
Princeton University

3:45-4:15 pm (Eastern Time)
Collection Development in the Geosciences
Amanda Bielskas, Director Science, Engineering & Social Science Libraries
Columbia University

4:15-4:30 pm (Eastern Time) – Break

4:30-5:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Opportunities for outreach and engagement in Earth Sciences librarianship
Samantha Teplitzky, Open Science & Earth Science Librarian
UC Berkeley

5:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Networking with Presenters and Attendees
Stephanie Earls
Washington Geological Survey Library

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

3:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Welcome
Clara McLeod, Earth and Planetary Sciences Librarian
Washington University in St. Louis

3:15-3:45 pm (Eastern Time)
Taking on Data Librarian Roles and Responsibilities: Experience of a Geology & Environmental Science Librarian
Ajatshatru Pathak
Hunter College-City University of New York (CUNY)

3:45-4:15 pm (Eastern Time)
Research in the Geosciences: Spotlight on Databases
Linda Musser, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library
Penn State University

4:15-4:30 pm (Eastern Time) – Break

4:30-5:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Promoting DEI in a Geoscience Library
Alma Parada, Earth and Environmental Sciences Librarian
Stanford University

5:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Networking
Stephanie Earls
Washington Geological Survey Library