Geology in an Online World

Abstract

The Geological Society of America should seize this opportunity to lead the earth sciences forward with online efforts centered on scientific data and rigorous analysis. Creating an online community is a broad subject and requires us to participate in a wide range of activities. First, we must produce understandable and widely available outreach materials and couple them with our scholarly products. Second, through continued efforts at peer review and understanding reporting standards, our data and interpretations must continue to meet the geological community’s requirements. Third, our work must be widely and seamlessly available through open access and open data (Bolukbasi et al., 2013). Last, we must preserve our efforts for future use and reuse by devising a funding and partnership model for the long-term preservation of digital information. In these ways, we can provide relevant, complete, and fact-based information to all curious and interested persons.