USGS Library
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Authorized by Congress in 1879, the U.S Geological Survey Library is recognized as one of the world’s largest Earth and natural science libraries, providing services, collections, and expertise essential to the USGS mission.
Welcome to USGS Library!
USGS Library has locations in Reston, VA, Denver, CO, and Menlo Park, CA. Each location is open to USGS employees and the public.
Library LocationsAsk a Librarian
Each library location has expert reference librarians available to assist with research and provide answers to reference questions received by phone, fax, or in person. To ask for reference assistance by E-mail, Ask a Librarian at library@usgs.gov.
News
40 Years Later: The Eruption of Mt. St. Helens and the USGS Response
USGS Library is commemorating the historic 1980 eruption by highlighting USGS research about Mount St. Helens.
USGS Library – Virtual Services Guide
The USGS Library has added a new, online guide highlighting resources and services available to employees whether they are teleworking, offsite, or working from their office. Please visit the USGS Library Virtual Services Guide for tips on how to search the Library Catalog, order documents, and contact Library staff for assistance.
2019 Open Access Week: "Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge"
Join the USGS Library in recognizing Open Access Week and exploring how the USGS supports this movement. Highlights today focus on Tracking the Impact of USGS Publications and Information Products.
Publications
Minerals, lands, and geology for the common defence and general welfare, Volume 4, 1939-1961: A history of geology in relation to the development of public-land, federal science, and mapping policies and the development of mineral resources in the United States from the 60th to the 82d year of the U.S. Geological Survey
The fourth volume of the comprehensive history of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is titled “Minerals, Lands, and Geology for the Common Defence and General Welfare—Volume 4, 1939‒1961.” The title is based on a passage in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution. The late Mary C. Rabbitt (1915‒2002), a geophysicist who served with...
Rabbitt, Mary C.; Nelson, Clifford M.
On-line access to geoscience bibliographic citations
On-line geoscience bibliographic citations and access points to citations are exponentially increasing as commercial, non-profit, and government agencies worldwide publish materials electronically. On-line bibliographic tools capture cited works, and open access content allows for freely obtained citations and documents. For this newsletter,...
Wild, Emily C.
The U.S. Geological Survey Library
Established in 1879, to build and organize a collection of scientific materials in the earth sciences, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Library is the largest earth sciences collection in the world. The USGS Library System is managed by the Geographic Information Office (GIO), Information Policy and Services Office, and includes four libraries in...