DATA PRESERVATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE OREGON GEOLOGIC DATA COMPILATION

As the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) became more widespread in the geologic community, the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) recognized the need to provide users with digital geologic information. DOGAMI embarked on a multi-year effort to capture and classify the “best available” geologic mapping of the state. GIS and a relational database were employed, and provided the infrastructure for storage, processing, and portrayal of this information collected from 345 published and unpublished maps, theses, and dissertations. The Oregon Geologic Data Compilation (OGDC) was the culmination of this effort. OGDC was also built in conjunction with the Oregon Geospatial Enterprise Office as part of the Geoscience Framework Theme for statewide spatial data as part of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure initiative. It has since been implemented as the state’s geologic data standard.

DOGAMI is currently developing a methodology to update OGDC by adding more recent publications to maintain it as the “best available” source of geologic data for the state. New geologic mapping is continually being created, has been available since completion of the project, and needs to be incorporated into the data set to keep it current. Recent work includes a conversion of the spatial files and the tabular database into a file geodatabase, a standard file platform of ESRI software. Future iterations of OGDC will be developed and published in the geodatabase format, rather than the two separate components of previous releases. This new methodology will help streamline updates in the future while preserving the existing legacy data in a more robust geodatabase technology.