AKGEOLOGY.INFO: AN ONLINE PORTAL FOR GEOLOGIC AND MINERAL RESOURCES INFORMATION

The website AKGeology.info is an online portal for geologic and minerals resources information for Alaska, bringing together data from multiple State and Federal agencies. It is the culmination of the federally funded Minerals Data and Information Rescue in Alaska (MDIRA). The MDIRA program was a five-year program funded through the U.S Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to recover and renew legacy publications, data, and geologic material archives and develop information delivery systems so that geologic and mineral resource information is constantly maintained and updated. The recovered information, including mining claim status, mineral localities, geochemistry, geologic maps, and publications is delivered through links and search utilities on the AkGeology.info portal.

Most publicly available Alaskan minerals information is contained in publications by the BLM, USGS, U.S. Bureau of Mines, and Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS). Legacy publications are being scanned and indexed through an Interagency Bibliography database. Newer publications are frequently published directly to the web. The Interagency Bibliography includes a search engine that leads users directly to agency publications that are available on the web. By the time the MDIRA projects are completed all USGS, BLM, USBM, and DGGS Alaska publications will be available on the internet. Alaska Master's and PhD Geology and Mining thesis will also be listed in the bibliography.

Within the next two years, individual datasets will be searchable and viewable through simple internet mapping interfaces, integrating displays of geochemical sample locations, mineral localities, geologic map outlines, and mining claim locations.