GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOKS OF NORTH AMERICA DATABASE VS GEOREF; PROPOSED PROJECT TO COMBINE THE GUIDEBOOK DATABASE INTO GEOREF

Two resources for identifying geologic field trip guidebooks are GeoRef and the Geologic Guidebooks of North America Database (Guidebook Database), a freely searchable database hosted by AGI, and cooperatively maintained with Geoscience Information Society. The precursor to the Guidebook Database was the Union List of Geologic Field Trip Guidebooks of North America, a print resource produced by Geoscience Information society, ending with the 3^rd edition in 1978. The current number of field trips listed in the Guidebook Database is 12,394. The number of guidebook titles in GeoRef is currently unknown, and difficult to determine. Discussions about merging the Guidebook Database into GeoRef have recently been renewed. Due to the nature of both databases, this would not be a simple task. This paper discusses some of the problems, and possible steps for merging the Guidebook Database into GeoRef, as well as advantages and disadvantages.