GEOLOGICAL SURVEY LIBRARY

The Geological Survey Library is one of the largest earth science libraries in the world. The main library is located at the Survey's National Center in Reston, Va., with branches located at major research centers in Denver, Colo., Menlo Park, Calif., and Flagstaff, Ariz. These libraries collectively contain more than 2 million items. Although these holdings are intended primarily to support the research activities of the Geological Survey, the library also serves other Government agencies, State geological surveys, academic institutions, and research organizations throughout the country.

The open-house celebrating the opening of the new library in Denver, took place in November 1977. The new facility was brought about in the aftermath of a fire that heavily damaged the former library facility. The new accommodations boast of approximately 27,000 square feet of space for the clientele as well as the library staff. Hard work and dedication by the staff contributed greatly to the reestablishment of services in the new library. Correspondingly, the library facilities have been expanded at the field center in Flagstaff, reflecting the more diversified interests of the Survey there.

Machine-readable data produced as a result of cataloging through OCLC Inc. has been used to create a library accessions list. This monthly list alerts the user to new publications added to the library and is particularly beneficial to field offices with few or no library facilities. By alerting a broad spectrum of Survey users to the new acquisitions, a greater number of users is being made aware of library materials and

services.

A users' guide has been drafted to provide information that will assist the researcher in the use of the

library collections and services. The guide details methods of access to the collections of books, maps,

Research facilities, National Center library.

Portion of the map collection, National Center library.

and microfilms and explains how to make use of the reproduction facilities, lending and reference services, and online data-base searches.

Interlibrary loan and photoduplication activities continued to increase in volume and number of clientele serviced (table 44). More demands for these services are being produced by a wider range of libraries using the library's cataloged materials that appear on the OCLC data base. Likewise, the number of visitors from across the Nation and foreign countries who come to work with the collections has increased.

The number of Beehive Model 105 terminals being used to access the OCLC data base was increased by two, giving a total of five such terminals now being operated for library services. The Survey library continues to rank among the top six Federal libraries in the number of titles entered into this data base. In

creased use of these same terminals is being made in the areas of acquisitions, reference, and interlibrary loan services.

Access to such data bases as GeoRef, GeoArchive, Chemcon, and NTIS Index is now available at the Reston, Denver, and Menlo Park libraries. The citations listed as the result of the literature searches of the online services have increased the demand for the serials, books, and reports listed. The increase in loan activities (table 44) is a reflection of the effect these activities have on other library services.

With the cooperation of the National Cartographic Information Center, the library, for the first time, was able to assemble a complete collection of all editions of the topographic quadrangle maps issued by the Survey. This collection represents an important historical collection in hard copy form. Statistics for fiscal year 1978 on library acquisitions, circulation, and lending-borrowing activities will be found in table

44.

Wise management of resources requires that up-todate scientific hydrologic information be readily available for planners. The Water Resources Division has the principal responsibility within the Federal Government for providing data and appraising water resources to facilitate evaluation of water problems. The Division's program is structured to present impartial accurate data and scientific analyses. It provides reports and maps to the public in Federal, State, and local publications; in technical journals; and through selected libraries.

The Water Resources Division provides extensive support to the missions of other Federal agencies and, under the Federal-State Cooperative Program, to State and local agencies. Therefore, the Division is aware of water-information needs at all levels of government and develops programs responsive to those needs. Through a network of offices in all 50 States, as well as in Puerto Rico and Guam (fig. 27), the Division works closely with State and local agencies. Addresses of District Offices are listed in the chapter on organizational and statistical data.

A major responsibility was assigned to the Survey in 1964 when it was designated the lead agency for coordinating water-data-acquistion activities of all Federal agencies, including information on streams, lakes, reservoirs, estuaries, and ground water. This coordination effort minimizes duplication of data collection among Federal agencies and strengthens the overall data base and its accessibility.

HIGHLIGHTS

In the past, not enough data have been available In the past, not enough data have been available that describe where, how, and in what quantities water is used. Yet water-use data are critical for effective planning and management. To fill this information gap, a national system for water-use data was begun in 1978. Projects were implemented in 16 States as part of the Federal-State Cooperative Program. By 1982, similar projects should be underway

in all States.

The National Water Data Exchange (NAWDEX) expanded its Master Water Data Index to identify more than 200,000 sites for which water data are available. Membership in NAWDEX increased from 84 members in September 1977 to 116 members in July 1978, and more than 400 organizations have been registered in

the Water Data Sources Directory.

Intensive river-quality assessments of the Upper Chattahoochee River, Ga., and the Yampa River, Colo.-Wyo., were completed, and reports are in preparation. A study of the Potomac estuary, Washington, D.C., is in progress, and assessments of three basins Lower Falls, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. (National Park Service.)

(the Schuylkill River, Pa., Apalachicola River, Fla., and Carson-Truckee Rivers, Nev.-Calif.) will begin in fiscal year 1979.

A finding from prototype urban hydrology studies in Denver, Colo., Miami, Fla., Philadelphia, Pa., and Portland, Ore., during the past 5 years showed that storm-water runoff in urban areas is a significant source of pollutants entering rivers and streams. The Survey published several technical reports on these investigations, and recent improvements in automatic sampling equipment and analysis techniques will greatly expand the effectiveness of such urban studies in the future.

Water-surface profiles are needed to design structurally sound and environmentally harmonious stream crossings. Hydrologists obtained flood-flow data at 22 sites in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi where densely wooded flood plains are crossed by highway embankments and single-opening bridges. New techniques are under investigation to use the data as a base for developing and evaluating two-dimensional digital models for predicting water-surface profiles.

Numerical simulation models of the simultaneous

transport of water and heat in porous media offer a useful technical tool for the evaluation of aquifers for the storage of heat energy. Data collected in a field. experiment of heat storage in an aquifer near Mobile, Ala., were analyzed, and a simulation model of the aquifer system was constructed. Simulation runs of the model indicated that it can satisfactorily reproduce the observed behavior of the system.

Water continues to be a key factor in energy development. Studies by the Water Resources Division in 1978 focused on the relationship of subsurface water to the disposal of high-level nuclear wastes, water problems related to in-situ development of oil shale, and water supplies and impacts related to the development of coal reserves.

In-depth studies of major regional aquifer systems began in fiscal year 1978. Investigations were underway in the California Central Valley, the northern Great Plains, and the High Plains regions. Available hydrologic information was analyzed, and observation networks and data-collection programs were implemented. In the northern Great Plains area, contracts for deep test drilling were awarded, and development of computer models of the aquifer systems of the three regions was begun.

Work has continued on a series of 21 Regional Ground-Water Appraisals. In 1978, appraisals were published for the following regions: Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, Souris-Red-Rainy, Tennessee, and Hawaii. The appraisals address matters of broad public concern-problems associated with urban-area management, land and water use planning, and the quantity and quality of regional ground-water supplies.