IDENTIFYING AND SHARING BEST PRACTICES IN GEOLOGICAL DATA AND SAMPLE PRESERVATION

Geoscience data and samples throughout the United States are the responsibility of numerous and varied programs and facilities, all with their own requirements and capabilities for preserving their collections. Section 351 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law No: 109-58) established the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP) as a means to identify data and physical collections maintained by state and federal agencies, and to ensure their preservation. Since its inception, the program has supported inventorying and cataloging collection data and physical sample holdings by Department of the Interior bureaus and State Geological Surveys. Through the course of the NGGDPP’s activities, the program has launched an effort to identify and highlight policies and procedures throughout the Federal, State and academic geologic communities in order to develop a listing of minimum standards and best practices in the fields of data management, sample curation, and metadata generation. These best practices have been compiled to provide information to State Geological Surveys, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and other research institutions to make prudent and well-informed archival and organizational decisions. Participants from the NGGDPP, State Geological Surveys and academia have collaborated to provide examples of best management practices for sample preservation, sample data (digital, photographic, descriptive) organization, and metadata generation. These best practices are documented in a USGS White Paper and are accessible on the Web in a wiki-style discussion page. The goal of this White Paper is to share these best practices and minimum standards with the larger geological community in the form of a living document for review, addition and recommendation. This active participation by participating organizations will assist the further development of this Paper as well as the development and implementation of their own policies and procedures.