Print this pageScientific Communication in the Earth Sciences: The Impact of the Electronic Publication
CARR, TIMOTHY R.; DANA ADKINS-HELJESON; REX C. BUCHANAN; PAUL M. GERLACH; THOMAS D. METTILLE; and JANICE H. SORENSEN
Traditional paper media, such as books, monographs, journals, and maps, have been a recognizable aspect of geologic work for several centuries. They remain the primary medium for communicating research results, transferring technology, and archiving knowledge. However, continued growth in volume of earth-science literature, increased unit costs of producing and archiving paper publications, and rapidly increasing power and availability of electronic technology are creating pressures on traditional scientific communication, and rapidly altering the role of traditional publication as a means of scientific communication. Electronic publication provides broad access and alters the relationship between interpretative result and the data. Electronic technology improves the quality and accessibility of "non-traditional" research products, (e.g., digital geographic information and unpublished archival material), and provides the means to create dynamic forms of scientific communication that can only be displayed in an electronic environment. New forms of communication use hypertext and relational database functions to provide text and graphics with which readers can interact. Electronic publication improves research reproducibility and facilitates use and continued enhancement of research products. Earth science institutions, including the Kansas Geological Survey, are experimenting with new forms of on-line publication that assure broad access to research and data, and improve application of research to societal problems.