Category: Uncategorized

GSIS has a new webmaster!

Please welcome Dwight Hunter, who is stepping into the role of GSIS webmaster. His familiarity with WordPress has already yielded improvements to our site and I look forward to his providing a more lively venue for member issues and discussion. Dwight is a long time member of the GSIS and currently is employed at Chattanooga State University. This 2020 press release provides more background about Dwight. Thank you Dwight!

Upcoming webinar: Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP): Empowering Collaborations that Make Data More FAIR

The Geoscience Information Society will host a webinar on June 7 from 2:00 – 3:00 (eastern time). Please join us for a presentation by Megan Carter and Karl Benedict on “Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP): Empowering Collaborations that Make Data More FAIR” followed by time for Q & A.

We hope to see you there! Contact us for more information.

Bob Tolliver, GSIS Vice President

Nominations Sought for 2023 Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award

Nominees are being sought for the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS) 2023 Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes and honors significant contributions to the geoscience information profession. The award is named after Mary Ansari, a former GSIS President and strong supporter of the Society, and will be presented at the GSIS Annual Meeting Meeting A monetary gift .accompanies this award.

Membership in GSIS is not a requirement to receive the award.  More information about the award and a list of previous award recipients is available at: https://www.geoinfo.org/distinguished-service.

The deadline for nominations is July 17, 2023.  Please send nomination materials listed below by email (cpmcleod@wustl.edu) or regular mail to Clara P. McLeod, Washington University, MSC 1061- 141-B 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130:

·         Your name and contact information

·         Name, title, and contact information for the person you are nominating

·         Resume or curriculum vita of the nominee

·         Statement indicating why the nominee is deserving of this award

·         Additional letters of support from other individuals endorsing the nomination

Please help us honor one of your colleagues with the 2023 Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award!

Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award Committee:

Clara P. McLeod (Chair), Marie Dvorak, Cynthia Prosser, and Robert Tolliver

Best Paper Award – request for nominations

The Best Paper Award Committee of the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS) is accepting nominations for the 2023 Best Paper Award through Wednesday, June 21, 2023. The committee is looking for original, significant and scholarly papers published in 2022 OR 2023 in the field of geoscience information. The papers must demonstrate effective professional communication and appeal to the broader geoscience information community. Send nominations to the chair of the committee, Christopher J.J. Thiry, cthiry@mines.edu. The nomination should include a detailed citation, and, if available, a link to the paper.

Nominate a favorite research resource for Ansari award

As the 2022-2023 academic year winds down, I ask you to reflect on some of the research resources you’ve used throughout the year. Which ones were your favorite/use all the time?  If there’s one or a few, nominate them for the GSIS Best Research Resource Award.

Mary B. Ansari Best Geoscience Research Resource Award 

The GSIS Best Research Resource Committee is seeking nominations for the annual Mary B. Ansari Best Geoscience Research Resource Award for the best geosciences reference publication. The award recognizes geoscience reference works or works focused on information aspects of the geosciences. Please nominate your favorite new website or reference work for the Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award.

 Submissions will be evaluated using the following criteria:

  • The work must have been published or produced within 3 years preceding the GSIS annual meeting. 

  • The title does not have to strictly be “geoscience,” but it should have significant value to the geoscience information community.

  • Local or specialized works can be considered if they are particularly high in quality and could serve as a model for other works.

  • Formats other than monographs may be considered, such as maps, databases, websites, etc.

  • Any works nominated should be in a generally useable format (DVD, online, etc.), be generally available for purchase by libraries, and, theoretically, have a stable future.

  • Although no work is specifically excluded from consideration, textbooks or monographs in geoscience or library/information science would not normally be considered.

 

Please submit your nominations to the committee chair by June 30th.  Please include citation information and/or a links to the resource:

Chrissy Klenke

Earth Science, GIS & Maps Librarian

University of Nevada, Reno

cklenke@unr.edu

Nominations sought for Guidebook awards

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)

Sharon Tahirkheli retirement

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