Updating the U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Website: Creating a Usable Tool for Karst Research

Innovative approaches for interpreting data from karst often would benefit if they were applied to datasets from multiple karst systems. Locating and obtaining such datasets, however, and contacting the scientists who created them can be difficult. The newly updated U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Karst Interest Group (KIG) Web site provides a gateway for bringing USGS karst science – including data, publications, and scientific contacts – to the broader scientific community (http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/karst/new08). The USGS is the Nation's earth-science data-collection agency, and its mission is to provide water information that benefits the Nation's citizens, including data and interpretive publications. The Web site features newly developed content presented using dynamic web technologies. Among the new functionalities of the KIG Web site is the ability to search for USGS datasets and monitoring stations by data type, aquifer, and date. The Web site features a home page for each major karst and pseudokarst aquifer in the United States with links to additional information and USGS contacts, key publications by USGS authors, and information on ongoing USGS karst studies. Also included are links to synergistic non-USGS Web sites (for example, for the Karst Interest Portal and the National Cave and Karst Research Institute). The Web site will serve as a portal to existing USGS on-line data-gathering tools such as the National Water Information System (NWIS) and the National Geologic Map Database. The goal in providing this information is to assist in expanding the frontiers of karst research and to facilitate collaboration between the USGS and other karst researchers.