Geoscientist 21.09 October 2011 (online version updated Monday 24 October)
Samantha Kaye writes: The Geofacets tool is designed to search for, and extract, maps, sections and other geographically-referenced geoscientific data from a very large and growing volume of published content. The interface is both interactive and intuitive, using a combination of a GoogleEarth map-based browser and a text-based search tool to capture georeferenced data and images which can then be collated into an interpretation. Search results are presented as thumbnail images with links to their corresponding read-only PDFs, full text (for subscribers) and pay-per-view (e.g. via Science Direct), and selected maps can be gathered for use in GIS software. About 125,000 maps are accessible, over 75,000 being tagged with georeferenced coordinates available as GeoTIFFs for subsequent analysis.
The Lyell Collection is an outstanding resource covering the two centuries of GSL’s existence. Providing access to this through Geofacets could increase significantly the value of the search tool, as well as increasing exposure for authors of Lyell content. GSL (and EAGE, as joint owners of Petroleum Geoscience) will benefit financially through royalties on sales of Geofacets modules and any increased demand for subscriptions or pay-per-view downloads. In addition it provides content access to users who may not be ‘traditional subscribers’. Launch of a Lyell Collection Geofacets module is planned for the second half of 2011.