Using the Lyell Collection
The Lyell Collection consists of the digitally captured content of the Geological Society’s wholly owned journals and key book series:
- Journal of the Geological Society
- Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
- Special Publications
- Engineering Geology Special Publications
- Memoirs
As the Collection develops further content will be added.
In what form is content held?
All content published before its launch of the Lyell Collection is available as PDF files. These PDFs were scanned from original printed pages and although every effort has been made to maintain quality this process is far from ideal for capturing the finer detail of older or complex illustrations. Nevertheless, by carefully balancing the requirement for high quality with the need for manageable file sizes (and, therefore, download times) the Society believes it has struck the right balance. Please do be mindful, however, that on rare occasion it may be necessary to supplement digital artwork with original hard copy artwork sourced via your library.All journal content generated after 2001, and all Special Publication and book content generated after May 2007 is “born digital” and is presented as high quality PDFs as well as full text HTML files with embedded links.
All content, from 1845 to current day, is accompanied by header data (authorship, affiliation and abstract) and by electronically captured and actively linked references. These references allow the user to navigate from each reference to any electronic version available on HighWire Press, or hosted elsewhere. If hosted elsewhere, full-text access will depend on the users access entitlements.
Can the Lyell Collection be searched for items of particular interest?
All content is searchable, with author names, article and chapter titles, abstracts, article PDFs and references all being searched for matches to search criteria.A Quick Search facility is present throughout the site and this allows simple searching by key word and author name. In addition, an Advanced Search allows for the refinement of searches by including or excluding further criteria as required. Any or all titles in the Collection can be included in the search, and users also have the option of including other titles hosted by HighWire Press such as Science magazine, or any of the titles from GeoScienceWorld.
Once an article of interest has been identified users can request a search of articles with similar criteria.
Is it possible to browse titles of interest?
Each journal title or book series has its own website within the Lyell Collection. These can be accessed by double-clicking the book covers on the Lyell CollectionOnce on a title home page a range of options are presented, including a link to allow the most recently published volume to be browsed. Alternatively, users can browse the archive (listed by year) to view articles published in any past journal volume or book title.
Title home pages also include an option to allow users to view the most read and most cited article from the relevant journal or book series.
Who is entitled to use the Lyell Collection and view content?
Anyone can visit the Lyell Collection and browse or search its content and view all header information and abstracts. For a description of which articles can be viewed without charge visit the section on access to free content.Other than content which is freely accessible to all, users’ access rights will depend on their institutional access rights or Fellowship of the Society. For a full description visit the following sections:
Access for libraries
Access for Fellows
Access for individuals
Pay-per-view access
What tools and benefits are available for researchers and authors?
The entire Lyell Collection is designed to provide a rich and versatile environment for researchers, with nearly quarter of a million pages of peer-reviewed Earth science content available.eTOC and research alerts (see below), as well as the ability to search for related articles are intended to aid the research process. In addition, articles are linked to Google Scholar to enable researchers to follow the work of individual authors. Bibliographic data from key articles can be downloaded directly to a range of citation management software, and authors wishing to re-use aspects of another authors’ work can submit a pre-populated electronic permission request directly to the Geological Society.
Authors benefit from free author ePrints and also receive an email each time their work is cited in a Lyell Collection or HighWire-hosted journal
What is the best way to keep informed of new content being added to the Lyell Collection?
All users (whether or not they enjoy content access right) are entitled to sign up for eTOC alerts (emails alerting users when a new issue or title is made available online) and research alerts (emails alerting users when a new article matching their research interests is made available online).In addition, users can sign up to be alerted when a specific article of interest is cited elsewhere, and can email details of particular articles to colleagues with shared interests.
Is it possible to receive hard copies of Lyell Collection content?
The Lyell Collection pages feature links to the Geological Society’s online bookshop, where hard copies of book titles still in print can be purchased. Fellows of the Geological Society receive discounts of up to 50%, and members of many other societies enjoy discount entitlements.Journal and Special Publication articles, or individual book chapters, can be downloaded by subscribers, or purchased on a pay-per-view basis, and printed as required by the user.