The American Geological Institute (AGI) and the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES) are pleased to announce the launch of CanGeoRef on September 15, 2011. CanGeoRef (www.cangeoref.org) is a bibliographic database covering the Canadian geoscience literature since the early 1800's. CanGeoRef is the result of a cooperative arrangement between CFES and AGI with the intent to expand GeoRef access for smaller companies and individuals focused on Canadian geoscience.
With seed money from the Committee of Provincial and Territorial Geologists (CPTG), CFES, in cooperation with the Canadian provincial and territorial geological surveys obtained publication data to be added to the existing Canadian references drawn from GeoRef, AGI's global bibliographic database for the geosciences. Data have already been added for Alberta and Manitoba and Ontario is near completion. Newfoundland/Labrador and British Columbia will follow shortly.
"This is a very important product for users of Canadian geoscience literature" says Carolyn Relf, Chair of the CFES CanGeoRef Steering Committee and herself director of the Geological Survey of the Yukon. "For the first time, users will be able to have access to all necessary literature for a very competitive price. I expect CanGeoRef will become a popular tool and a recognized essential service for the private sector".
At launch, CanGeoRef will contain almost 200,000 bibliographic references on Canada. These will include citations to the journal literature, meeting proceedings and abstracts, books, reports, theses and maps. During Phase 1 of the project, provincial and territorial publications are being targeted for inclusion. Phase 1 of CanGeoRef is expected to be complete by 2013. Subscription rates will be discounted while data entry is completed. Phase 2 will consider the inclusion of provincial and territorial mineral assessment reports. Currently only Mineral Assessment Reports for Alberta are included in CanGeoRef.
The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 50 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment.