The USGS Library -- A National Resource

By Nancy L. Blair and R. Lee Hadden

Congress established the U.S. Geological Survey Library in the 1879 legislation that founded the U.S. Geological Survey. The Act decreed that copies of reports published by the Survey should be given to the library to exchange for publications of state and national geological surveys and societies. The USGS Library built from this notable and cost-effective exchange program, plus purchases and gifts, has become the world's largest collection of earth science information. The Library is housed in four collections across the country: Reston, VA; Denver, CO; Menlo Park, CA; and Flagstaff, AZ.

The Library at Reston alone houses more than 12 miles of bookshelves and over 25 tons of maps. The total collection in the four libraries includes more than 1.2 million books, 8,500 different journal titles, 900,000 maps, and 430,000 photographs, plus microforms, pamphlets, field record notebooks, video cassettes, and digital media.

The Library responds to current and anticipated subject interests of USGS researchers, such as those in ecology, health, and biology, while maintaining its heritage collection of core science publications dating back to the 17th century. The heritage collection provides a unique historical record of the progress of natural science.

The Library supports the research of the Department of the Interior and other government agencies, universities, and professional communities. Libraries throughout the world, including the largest and most renowned, borrow from the Library's unique collection. In a recent six-month period, the USGS Library loaned to over 750 libraries. These libraries were in every state and in 37 foreign countries. Although not defined by Congress as a national library, the USGS Library is the premier national collection of geologic and hydrologic publications, supplementing earth science collections in the Nation's large libraries in major universities and government agencies.

Besides providing resources for scientific investigations, the USGS Library's multi-disciplinary collection provides access to geographical, technical, and historical literature in paper and electronic formats for the general public and industry. Library users bring their questions to the library daily, in person or by request help by phone or e-mail, and expert librarians assist them in using the wealth of well-organized information to find answers.

Erin Donnelly of the USGS Library holds an extremely rare 19th century book on gems and precious stones from India.	An early description and hand-drawn color diagram of the gem now known as the Hope Diamond, from the 1812 records of a London diamond merchant. This document is one of the gems in the Library's special Kunz collection.

During a century of collecting, the Library has acquired many treasures such as the George F. Kunz Collection. George F. Kunz was a former employee of the USGS, a vice-president of Tiffany & Co., and one of the world's preeminent gem experts at the time of his death in 1932. The Kunz collection includes rare books on gemology, the lapidary arts, the folklore of gemstones through history, and archival gem trade records--including the original provenance of the Hope diamond.

Another unusual acquisition was the group of books and maps known as the Heringen Collection. These military geology texts and maps were looted by the Nazis from European libraries, including Russia, and hidden in a potash mine in Heringen, Hesse, Germany. At the end of the World War II they were transported by the U.S. military to the United States and are now part of the USGS Library.

The Library map collections have provided invaluable aid to authorities and scientists in times of disasters such as the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch (which hit Central America in 1998), the California Northridge earthquake in 1994, and worldwide volcanic eruptions. In times of crisis, such as military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq or major fires in the nation's forests, planners use the historic topographic and thematic map collections to study terrain and geologic conditions. To make available maps on crucial areas on short notice, the USGS Library has needed to collect maps from all parts of the world for many years. To have the materials "just in time," for emergency response, the USGS Library had to have the maps "just in case."

Geologist Martha Garcia at work in the library.

Here are some examples of how the USGS Library has served its patrons:

• Some homes in suburban Philadelphia were collapsing because they were built upon an old riverbed. The river flow was diverted in the early 1800s and the bed was built up with gravel and other fill. A number of neighborhoods were constructed on top of the site over the next 150 years and the old riverbed was forgotten. However, rain and other groundwater flow had undercut these houses, and they were slowly subsiding. USGS staff were able to chart the old river bed from 19^th century maps and reports published by the USGS and the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, establish building use patterns, and begin to document the extent of the subsidence problem and its future implications.
• A reading of a brief mention of a diamond found in the 1906 annual report of the USGS began a trail of research and investigation that led one geologist to prospect for diamonds in Canada. Over the past decade this has developed into a multi-million dollar mining investment in Ontario.

Maps, photographs, and literature in the USGS Library have provided evidence to solve boundary disputes and water rights litigation, to trace geographic names, and to research natural and man-made changes in an area over time.

Besides the four libraries of the library system, the USGS has more than 20 collections and small libraries located within science centers across the nation. Some of these are biology libraries in Columbia, MO; Boise, ID; Fort Collins, CO; Kearneysville, WV; Lafayette, LA; Jamestown, ND; and Laurel, MD; and the Geography Library at EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, SD. These libraries have specialized collections focusing on the research interests of local scientists, such as aquatic biology, raptors, remote sensing, and wetlands. The library staffs provide services tailored to the needs of the research groups at each location.

Besides the four libraries of the library system, the USGS has many specialized libraries located in science centers across the nation. These libraries have collections focusing on the particular research interests of local scientists, such as aquatic ecology, raptors, remote sensing, wildlife biology, and invasive species. The library staffs provide services tailored to the needs of the research groups at each location. Fourteen of these libraries and the library system have formed the USGS Library Consortium (see sidebar).

During the 125^th anniversary year of the USGS and for years to come, the USGS Library will continue to provide access to historic reports, maps, and photos and the latest electronic information resources to USGS researchers and others who need its great collections. The USGS Library homepage, at http://www.usgs.gov/library/, provides access to more information on the USGS libraries, the online catalog, and links to digital resources, such as the USGS library photographic archive.

USGS Librarians (left to right) Librarians Karen Bolm (Latin American Archives), Nancy Soderberg (U.S. Data Library Archive), Liz Lucke (Fort Collins Science Center), Julia Towns (Columbia Environmental Research Center), Judy Buys (National Wetlands Research Center), and Stephanie Wyse (Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center) find themselves on Library Street at the 2002 Consortium meeting in Reston.

Sidebar:

USGS Libraries: Connecting Resources for Integrated Science

USGS science is used by many segments of society in natural resource management and decision-making. When the scientists themselves need access to science information in planning and conducting their work, the USGS offers them a valuable resource service that is also a considerable time-saver: the USGS Libraries.

The USGS Library Consortium formed in 2000 to provide a framework for communication and sharing of resources and expertise among the USGS Libraries. The USGS-LC members are committed to providing the highest quality library and information services for USGS employees when and where they are needed. Through their collective resources and their ongoing commitment to quality, USGS-LC librarians ensure that they can continue to meet the science information needs quickly and efficiently for USGS employees. For Further information on the USGS-LC please e-mail the USGS-LC Steering Committee at libraryconsortium@usgs.gov or call Julia Towns at 573-876-1853.

USGS Library Consortium includes the following libraries and subject coverage:

USGS Library System (see article)

USGS Science Center Libraries:
Columbia Environmental Research Center, Columbia, MO
Effects of contaminants on aquatic ecosystems; fishery biology; ecology; microbiology; environmental toxicology; fish behavior; invertebrate zoology; large river ecosystems; statistics; biochemistry; environmental and analytical chemistry

EROS Data Center Library, Sioux Falls, SD
Remote sensing; satellite imaging; GIS; computer science; other natural and earth science material

Forest and Rangeland Science Center, Boise, ID
Raptors; fishery biology; stream and riparian studies

Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO
Ecology; wildlife biology; fishery biology, stream and riparian ecology; botany; social science; economics

Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center Library, Flagstaff, AZ
Effects of Glen Canyon Dam operations on resources along the Colorado River from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead

Great Lakes Science Center, Ann Arbor, MI
Great Lakes ecology; aquatic ecology; fisheries; natural history; environmental chemistry

Latin American Archive & Reference Library, Tucson, AZ
Latin American; mineral resources

Leetown Science Center, Kearneysville, WV
Fish physiology; fish health; aquatic ecology

National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA
Bottomland hardwood forests; forested wetlands; agricultural land use by waterfowl and waterbirds; Louisiana coastal restoration; Gulf coast prairie restoration; waterfowl, neotropical bird species of coastal area

National Wildlife Health Center Library, Madison, WI
Wildlife diseases, especially marine mammal, amphibian, and emerging infectious diseases

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Library, Jamestown, ND
Flora, fauna, and ecology of the Great Plains; wetlands; GIS; statistics; ornithology; botany

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Library, Laurel, MD
Ornithology; pollution; biometrics

Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, WI
Aquatic ecology; wildlife ecology; fish culture; migratory birds; registration of aquatic chemicals and drugs

USGS Data Library & Archive, Woods Hole, MA
Field data library of marine geology collected by the Woods Hole Science Center