Data Access, Data Preservation and Data Publication Issues (6/20/12)

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Access to high-quality, scientific data is important for geoscience research, development and education. It is important that federal government agencies, such as the U.S. Geological Survey, are able to maintain accessible databases on natural resources, geologic and geophysical information, and basic information such as topography. In addition to government research, much information is collected by the academic and private sectors using, at least in part, U.S. federal funding. Though this information is often competitive and proprietary, many feel that any research coming from taxpayers’ dollars should be publicly accessible. Geosciences are global, so it is important that data is maintained and accessible worldwide.

The government plays a role in these issues by maintaining federal databases and helping to ensure data access in other countries through funding and federal preservation programs. In addition, the federal government has been held increasingly accountable for data integrity and the quality of scientific data it uses in policymaking. Funding and legislation will hopefully continue to provide widespread access to scientifically sound data. The 111th Congress approved the reauthorization of America COMPETES Act (H.R. 5116), which authorizes increases for research at the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Energy Department’s Office of Science. It requires the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to coordinate and organize public access to government-funded research, including the development of online databases of scientific information within agencies. How the requirement will affect peer-reviewed journals and publishers, though, is unknown.

Some of AGI's member societies have issued their own position statements on data preservation and open access.

Recent Action

Briefing on “Digitizing Science Collections: Unlocking Data for Research and Innovation”(06/12)
Presenters
Mary Jameson
Associate Professor, Wichita State University
Larry Page
Curator of Fishes, Florida Museum of Natural History
President, Natural Science Collections Alliance
Michael Mares
Professor, University of Oklahoma
Director, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History

On June 5, 2012, the Natural Science Collections (NSC) Alliance hosted a briefing for “Digitizing Science Collections: Unlocking Data for Research and Innovation.” The briefing discussed the technology behind digitizing the natural science collections and its ability to increase access. The presenters for the day focused on biological collections and the impact digitizing would have on the future of information access.

Mary Jameson began the briefing by saying “collecting is a scientific pursuit.” She discussed the powers of collections in various aspects of biodiversity. Even Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education would benefit from digitizing information, as it would provide a resource for students. Jameson said cyberinfrastructure is used to drill down into the data and re-use specimens. Digitizing collections would assist societal needs like management of agricultural pests, land use planning, and conservation planning. She closed by saying digitizing biological collections is the “nexus for innovation” and new discoveries.

Larry Page said biodiversity contained in natural history collections is more “than in all other sources of information combined.” He emphasized the point that information is inaccessible to potential users, as they are “dispersed” across the U.S. Page broke digitizing into three parts: databasing, georeferencing, and imaging. Databasing is the “what, where, and when” aspect, while georeferencing can provide useful information towards the generation of distribution maps. Images are beneficial in scientific studies and to various types of people. This list includes federal and state agencies, as well as educators who can use very basic principles to “get them [students] excited about science.” He discussed the barrier due to lack of digitizing and how National Science Foundation (NSF) is providing funding for this project. He briefly mentioned the Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio), which is funded by NSF. Currently, 130 institutions across the U.S. are receiving support. He said that getting past this barrier will “lead to enhanced environmental policy.”

Michael Mares finished off the presentations by emphasizing collections “are irreplaceable.” He referred to biological collections as a “universal investment” and the U.S. would have an advantage if data is fully utilized, which it is currently not. Mares listed some problems with collections, including: storage in old buildings, disbursement, poor maintenance, and poor funding. He listed what type of basic data must be gathered in order to fully comprehend and protect collections. Mares said after digitization, “we’re going to see robotics and rapid identifications.”

The three speakers fielded questions from the audience. One question asked where the rest of the money was coming from because the collections are huge and NSF is giving only a small amount. Mares used the University of Oklahoma as an example and said they got bond elections from the state and some money from private donors. Page mentioned NSF giving $100 million over 10 years to the biological digitization project, which was cited in the Bioscience September 2011 article “New Push to Bring U.S. Biological Collections to the World’s Online Community.” NSF lists these grants on their web site to be available to the geosciences for paleontological collections as well as biological sciences. Proposals will only be accepted from universities, non-profit, non-academic organizations, and state and local governments.

The aforementioned article discusses the development of InvertNet, “a virtual insect museum” by the Illinois Natural History Survey. The principal investigator for this project is Chris Dietrich (dietrich@inhs.illinois.edu). Corinna Gries (cgries@wisc.edu) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will capture images of 2.3 million specimens of North American lichen and mosses in her research. Digitization would allow the information to be shared among the public, which can advance learning.

The Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program was created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58, Sec. 351). The program is managed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) with support from the state geological surveys. The data archived by the program includes “geologic, geophysical, and engineering data, maps, well logs, and samples.” Authorizations for this program were $30 million every year for the years of 2006 until 2010. USGS plans to award about $600,000 in fiscal year 2012 to state geological surveys to fund preservation activities.

For more information on the briefing, please visit the NSC Alliance web site.

Administration Announces Big Data Initiative (04/12)
Six federal agencies including the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) joined the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to announce the new Big Data Research and Development Initiative. There will be more than $200 million in commitments across the six departments and agencies to improve the cyberinfrastrucure and techniques to store, access, organize, and acquire information from large amounts of data.

In 2012, NSF will be awarding the first round of grants to support EarthCube, an initiative to support integrated data management structures in the geosciences. DOE will provide $25 million in funding to establish the Scalable Data Management, Analysis and Visualization (SDAV) Institute. Based at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the SDAV Institute will develop tools to manage and visualize data on DOE’s supercomputers. USGS has announced its fiscal year 2012 working groups for the John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis. Working groups at the Powell center collaborate on Earth systems science projects with state-of-the-art computing and facilities.

OSTP Releases Interagency Public Access Coordination Report to Congress (04/12)
As required by Section 103 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has submitted to Congress a report detailing the progress made toward coordinating federal science agency policies related to open access of federally funded scientific research. The report includes summaries of two Requests for Information issued in 2009 on public access policies and 2011 on data sharing and public access for scholarly publications. The report also updates agencies’ progress in crafting open access policies.

World Bank Implements New Open Access Policy (04/12)
The World Bank’s research and knowledge products will soon be freely available online as a result of its new Open Access Policy announced on April 10. Though much of the World Bank’s reports and products have been freely available for some time, this new policy has resulted in an aggregated portal where data is curated, content is easily downloadable, and individual researchers and institutions are free to use, reuse, and build on the accessible data.

On the day of the announcement, the World Bank adopted a set of copyright licenses for content published by the institution. These new licenses, offered by Creative Commons, allow anyone to distribute, reuse, and build upon the Bank’s published work though users are required to credit the Bank for the data. The portal, known as the Open Knowledge Repository, meets the Open Archives Initiative’s protocol for metadata harvesting.

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Previous Action

Issa Will Not Seek Passage of Research Work Act, Elsevier Drops Support (02/12)
After initially supporting the Research Works Act (H.R. 3699) when it was introduced in December of 2011, Elsevier released a statement on February 27 withdrawing support of the bill. H.R. 3699 would prevent any federal agency from disseminating any private-sector research paper without the permission of the publisher, author, or employer.  

H.R. 3699 was introduced by Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) and is cosponsored by Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).  The measure would prevent federal agencies from any type of “network dissemination” of “private-sector research” without the prior consent of the publisher, or the assent of the author or employer.  “Private-sector research” is defined as an article intended to be published in a scientific journal describing or interpreting research funded by a federal agency to which the publisher has entered into an agreement to make a value-added contribution such as editing or peer review.  Since Elsevier’s withdrawal of support, Issa has announced he will no longer seek passage of the bill. 

White House Extends Opportunity to Comment on Open Access Policy (12/11)
The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358) directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director to establish a working group within the National Science and Technology Council “to coordinate Federal science agency research and policies related to the dissemination and long-term stewardship of the results of unclassified research, including digital data and peer-reviewed scholarly publications, supported wholly, or in part, by funding from the Federal science agencies.” The Interagency Working Group on Digital Data has extended the deadline for its Request for Information (RFI) that seeks individuals or organizations to provide recommendations and options for implementing the digital data policy and standards requirements of the reauthorization. Ultimately, OSTP will implement a clearinghouse with information on the contents of, and access to, federal scientific collections. Public comments are due on or before January 12, 2012.

Bill to Increase Transparency of Federal Grants Passes Committee (12/11)
The Grant Reform and New Transparency (GRANT) Act of 2011 (H.R. 3433) was introduced by Representative James Lankford (R-OK) on November 16 and passed by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform the next day. The bill would require the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to upgrade existing public web sites for finding, reviewing, and applying for federal grant opportunities so that they would provide full access to detailed information about the individual grants. It would require the disclosure of the name, title, and employer of all individuals who serve as reviewers. During the mark up, Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) offered an amendment to strike language requiring the “name, title, and employer” of individuals who serve as reviewers. Cummings’ amendment passed by voice vote but was later overturned by Lankford who succeeded in retaining the language though he added “or unique identifier” after “name.” The proposed web site would provide a copy of the final grant agreement, a copy of all proposals, applications, or plans submitted for the grant, the numerical ranking of the grant by reviewers, and a justification from the reviewers if the award of the grant does not coincide with the numerical rankings. Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), an original cosponsor of the bill, said the GRANT Act “lifts a veil of secrecy” surrounding federal grants.

The American Association of Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) wrote a joint letter on November 28 to Chairman Issa and Lankford questioning the need for the GRANT Act. The letter states “Under current laws and regulations governing federal grants, research universities and their faculty already provide to the federal government comprehensive financial and compliance information, which is publicly available.” The organizations strongly disagree with the language requiring the disclosure of peer reviewers’ names and employers. “Anonymity in the process permits greater candor in the evaluation of grant applications and thereby, contributes to a higher quality of review than would otherwise occur if the names of peer reviewers related to a specific application were known,” the organizations argue.

Cummings and Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, and Procurement Reform of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote a letter to Lankford and Issa urging changes in the GRANT Act before it is brought to the full House for a vote. The two congressmen argue the nation cannot afford “to impose new, expensive requirements on cash-strapped universities and federal agencies” or “to risk that foreign adversaries could access America’s vital intellectual property by simply copying it off federal websites directly from grant applications.”

Copies of organizations’ letter and congressmen’s letter can be found on the AAU What’s New web site.

UNESCO Hosts Open Access Forum (12/11)
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Global Open Access Portal (GOAP) held a forum in late November to bring together experts on open access to advise UNESCO on ways to promote and develop a platform for global open access around the world. Participants of the 2011 Open Access Forum discussed ways to promote open access to scientific information, data repositories, and academic journals, ways to implement successful open access policies around the world, and strategies to improve collaboration and access to scientific information among less developed countries. Many of the experts’ presentations are available on the forum web site. 

Kentucky Unveils Most Detailed State Geologic Map Series in United States (11/11)
Through a partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, the Kentucky Geological Survey has published all 26 geologic maps in its series in a 30 by 60 minute scale. The Kentucky Geological Survey will make these maps freely available to the public online, with an application for electronic devices, and through printed hard copies.

Geologic maps can show surface and subsurface rock types, formations, and structures and are a tremendous economic and recreational contribution to society. Information provided by geologic maps assists in the production of resources, protection of groundwater and the environment, stability of foundations and infrastructure, and avoidance of hazards. The Kentucky Geological Survey has found that its geologic maps value at $2.25 - $3.35 billion in 1999 U.S. dollars.

Federal Geographic Data Committee Unveils Geospatial Web Platform (11/11)
On November 9, 2011, the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), an interagency committee established in 1990, unveiled its prototype Geospatial Web Platform, open to public and government use. The web site combines user-friendly map-based data and tools with the latest internet technologies to deliver geospatial information. The official launch of the Geospatial Platform improves the availability and usability of geospatial information from all federal agencies.

On the web site, users can create their own maps utilizing the web site’s data as well as their own data brought to the platform, without any software download requirements. Users can also collaborate in public or private groups through the platform, giving them the ability to share data.

This project brought together the efforts of many related agencies. The FGDC is composed of representatives from the Executive Office of the President, and cabinet level and independent federal agencies including the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In conjunction with feedback from stakeholders and experts, FGDC will collaborate with its partners to continuously expand the content and resources available through the site.

OSTP Seeks Input on Public Access to Data (11/11)
In accordance with the America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) of 2010 reauthorized by Congress in December of 2010, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is charged with improving widespread digital public access to federally funded unclassified research. As part of their efforts, OSTP has created two interagency policy groups under the National Science and Technology Council—the Task Force on Public Access to Scholarly Publications and the Interagency Working Group on Digital Data—to identify the specific objectives and public interests that need to be addressed by any policies in these two areas.

OSTP released two Requests for Information (RFI) in November, soliciting comment from the public and stakeholders on ways to preserve long term access to federally funded research. Comments and answers to the RFIs are encouraged and should be sent by email to the Public Access and Digital Data policy groups.

University of Virginia Resists Subpoena for Professor’s Research (04/11)
Beginning a year ago in April 2010, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has sent several subpoenas to the University of Virginia (UVA) to try and obtain several emails and documents related to former professor and climate scientist, Michael Mann. The American Tradition Institute, a conservative group, has now issued a civil subpoena seeking the same information. Though the case is likely to be heard in the fall, UVA has already responded to the group this April with a letter claiming it will use "all available" exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act. "While the University is, of course, committed to comply with the requirements of law, I wish to reassure you that this commitment will be carried out to the fullest extent possible consistent with the interests of faculty in academic freedom and scholarship," wrote University President Teresa Sullivan. The American Tradition Institute said they have submitted the request for taxpayers' benefit. 

Judge Rules Google Cannot Digitize Books (03/11)
A federal judge in New York denied the $125 million settlement between Google and groups representing authors and publishers of books that the company planned to digitize to create the world’s largest online library. Citing copyright issues and antitrust laws, Judge Denny Chin called the settlement, which would have allowed Google to continue plans to make every book available online, “not fair, adequate and reasonable.” The settlement had been in the works since 2005, and the decision marks a setback for those involved; Judge Chin acknowledged that a revised agreement could gain favor in the courts. Google has said it wants to organize and make available all of the world’s information, but academics, copyright experts and members of the Justice Department have expressed concern that the library would give Google unfair rights to profit from books without permission.

Senate Passes Bipartisan Patent Reform Act (03/11)
Sponsored by a trio of senators from both parties, the America Invents Act of 2011 (S.23) passed the Senate overwhelmingly on March 8, 2011. The measure reforms America’s patent system to improve patent quality, reduce backlogs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and provide funds to ensure processing of the 700,000 backlogged applications in USPTO. One significant change that has generated controversy would be the initiation of a “first-to-file” model rather than a “first-to-invent” system. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), a co-sponsor of the bill along with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), said the bill has “widespread support from lawmakers and the business community.” The bill now moves to the House for consideration.

Chinese Court Rejects Jailed U.S. Geologist's Appeal (2/11)
A Beijing appeals court ruled on February 18 to uphold the eight year prison sentence given to an American geologist who was jailed for collecting information on the Chinese oil industry. Xue Feng claimed that the information was commercially and publicly available when he obtained it and was classified retroactively by the government. Xue has been in custody for more than three years and was fined $30,000 despite requests for his release and repatriation to the U.S. (See AGI’s July 2010 Monthly Review on the topic.)

Publishing Company Wiley Announces Open Access Journals (2/11)
Publishing company Wiley, known for specializing in journals, books, reference works, laboratory manuals and databases, announced the launch of Wiley Open Access, a new publishing program of open access journals,on February 1. Three journals have been created for open access publishing of research outcomes, meaning authors pay to have their work accessed by users for free. Brain and Behavior will showcase research in neurology, neuroscience, psychiatry and psychology; Ecology and Evolution is set to publish research relating to ecology, evolution and conservation science; and an open microbiology journal is set to launch.

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) has also expanded the number of its journals with an open access option. Dozens of NPG publications now allow researchers to self-archive articles for free or have their work published immediately for open access for a publication fee. More information and a full list of participating journals can be found here.

Court Case to Impact University Patents (01/11)
The influential Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 is being questioned in court on the basis of a dispute between Stanford University and Roche Ltd., an international pharmaceutical company. The act permitted universities and researchers to file patents for items and technologies that were created through the use of government funds. In Stanford v. Roche, the contract between an individual Stanford researcher and Roche is in dispute. Stanford insists that, because the research was initially performed under a grant to the university, it retains the rights to patents pursuant to the Bayh Dole Act.

More than 50 universities and science societies have joined Stanford in the case by filing “friend of the court” briefs. Former Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN) has filed a brief as well, stating his intention to favor the rights of universities over individual inventors.

Stanford initially lost the suit in a federal district court, but the Supreme Court has decided to hear the case on February 28, 2011. Amicus Briefs from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU brief) and other organizations are available online.

Administration Releases Scientific Integrity Guidelines (12/10)
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released scientific integrity guidelines for federal agencies on December 17, 2010. The memorandum issued by OSTP is suppose to provide implementation guidelines for a March 9, 2009 Presidential Memorandum on Scientific Integrity and there has been a long delay in completing the guidance.  The four-page document provides brief and general instructions and leaves the details on how to implement the guidelines to the agencies.

The memorandum is divided into five parts. The first part states the foundations of scientific integrity in government work, including honesty, credibility, open access and principles for science communication. OSTP calls for government data to be accessible to the public following the Open Government Initiative. The second part primarily discusses communication of government science with the media. Science communications should be objective and non-partisan and scientific findings may not be altered by any agency officials. Disputes about proceeding with media interviews should be resolved by “mechanisms”, but the memo does not define the mechanisms. The third part discusses the role and establishment of federal advisory committees. The fourth part discusses professional development of government scientists, including how they can publish in peer-review literature and how they can work with science societies. The fifth part discusses the role of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in reviewing science-based congressional testimony. The memo concludes by asking each agency to prepare a report within 120 days on how they will implement the policies set forth in the document.

The geosciences community is encouraged to read and review the entire memorandum as the guidelines affect individuals and institutions.

Any questions regarding the memorandum can be directed to integrity@ostp.gov

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Background

Data is important for geoscience research and development and geoscience education. Federal government agencies, such as the U.S. Geological Survey, maintain data on natural resources and basic details such as topography. It is important that these databases are maintained and accessible. Geosciences are global and it is also important that data from around the world is maintained and accessible. The federal government plays a role in these issues by maintaining federal data and helping to ensure data access in other countries.

In addition to government data, information is also collected by the academic, private and other sectors. Much of the information collected by the U.S. academic sector is derived from federal funding in the U.S. and thus should be maintained and accessible. Information collected by the private sector is competitive and proprietary. Over time, some private sector information becomes non-proprietary, but can remain useful for the broad geoscience community if there is some mechanism to maintain this data.

Efforts are being made to preserve this data as well as other data within federal-state-local partnerships. One example of such a partnership, supported by the 109th Congress, is the data preservation section of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The section authorizes funding for the U.S. Geological Survey Data Preservation Program in partnership with the state geological surveys to maintain data, including that contributed by the private sector.
Data is also important to scientific publications and concerns have been raised regarding access to data or to publications. Congress has received some pressure, particularly from health-related groups to make publications that are in part or whole supported by federal funds accessible to the public without any fees. Authors and publishers add value to the publications and hold copyrights, making no-fee access difficult to implement. Nonetheless, Congress required the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a database of all publications funded by NIH in whole or in part and all authors must voluntarily submit their publications to the database.

Although the intent is to make federally-funded publications accessible to the taxpayers who pay for the research, the measure seems to work outside copyright law and can negatively impact non-profit society journals. Non-profit society journals tend to have a long history of high quality publications and the publications provide needed support for their societies. If the NIH model would be applied to all federally funded science then geoscience society journals might suffer serious deterioration and lead to the demise of the societies themselves. This would lead to a reduction of high quality publications and an increase in commercial publication prices (as commercial publishers would not have to compete with lower cost non-profit publishers).

In the past decade, data integrity has become more of an issue. Accusations of political appointees changing scientific data to further their own goals have called into question the reliability and quality of data being released by the government. A 2003 report by the House Committee on Government Reform said the Bush Administration had “manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings.” A follow-up report in 2007, Political Interference with Climate Change Science Under the Bush Administration, found that the White House censored climate change scientists and significantly edited climate change reports. In addition, the variety of sources and ease of access provided by the internet presents another problem in monitoring the integrity of scientific data. Responding to these concerns, President Obama introduced a Presidential Memorandum on Scientific Integrity in March 2009. In response, the White House OSTP released scientific integrity guidelines for federal agencies on December 17, 2010, which mandates federal agencies to release their guidelines within 120 days of the OSTP release.

The Federal Information Quality Act
On February 22, 2002, in accordance with the Data Quality Act (Section 515 of Public Law 106-554), the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released Information-Quality Guidelines. These were issued to promote "the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information (including statistical information) disseminated by Federal agencies.'' The OMB also directed all federal agencies to implement their own guidelines to correct information that did not comply with those released by OMB.

The Data Quality Act aimed to quell concerns about the accuracy of federal data.  The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness claimed, “Federal agencies regularly publish information on which influential policies or decisions are made that have significant impact on the economy of a region or even the entire nation or that can influence wrong decisions about public and private investments, opportunities and other issues. States, cities, counties, as well as private and public organizations, and citizens in general have had difficulties getting the federal agencies to either substantiate the information published or correct the information to ensure its quality.”

OMB defines information "quality" as information that offers utility, objectivity and integrity to information consumers where: OMB defines information "quality" as information that offers utility, objectivity and integrity to information consumers where:

  • Utility is the usefulness of the disseminated information to the intended consumers.
  • Objectivity is that the disseminated information is presented in an accurate, clear, complete and unbiased manner and, as a matter of substance, is accurate, reliable and unbiased.
  • Integrity refers to security: the protection of information from unauthorized access or revision (modification) to ensure that the information is not compromised through corruption or falsification.

Agencies must define these terms in a rigorous, operational fashion to ensure that they have a shared understanding with their customers of the information provided."

For online access to the agency specific OMB guidelines go to the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness Website.

The 111th Congress passed the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act, (H.R. 5116), which authorizes increases for research at the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Energy Department’s Office of Science. The act requires the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to coordinate and organize public access to government-funded research, including the development of online databases of scientific information within agencies. Congress included a statement recognizing the role of scientific publishers in the peer-review process; however, non-profit science societies will need to consider the impacts of this legislation on the quality and value of their long-standing journals.

Sources: AGI's Monthly Review.

Contributed by Linda Rowan, Geoscience Policy staff; Dana Thomas, AAPG/AGI Spring 2011 Intern; Erin Camp, AAPG/AGI Fall 2011 Intern; and Krista Rybacki, AIPG/AGI Summer 2012 Intern.

Background section includes material from AGI's summaries and updates for Data Quality and Public Access in the 111th Congress.

Please send any comments or requests for information to AGI Geoscience Policy.

Last updated on June 20, 2012