Annual Report 2007: FY July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007
Publication Pipeline Committee
The mission of the AAPG Publication Pipeline Committee is to improve geoscience education in countries abroad by providing used geoscience books and periodicals at no cost to libraries that request them.
Geoscientists Helping Geoscientists
The AAPG Publication Pipeline committee collects, inventories, boxes, stores, and sends, free of charge to the recipients, donated geoscience periodicals and books to university libraries and other libraries overseas which are in need of them for use by the students, faculty, and researchers. We arrange shipment of the publications overseas through the help of companies and organizations operating overseas as well as with the assistance of other AAPG members, regions and student chapters. To date the committee has shipped over 50 tons of publications to universities that need them.
Accomplishments–Fiscal Year 2006/2007
This last year has been a very successful year for the Publication Pipeline both in terms of intake of publications as well as the amount of publications sent overseas.
Notably the Publication Pipeline committee entered into a long-term donation arrangement with ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co. to accept used publications from their library management system. In addition publications were donated to the committee from other libraries (MMS-New Orleans, Illinois State Geologic Survey) as well as from individuals. We now have about 50,000 pounds of donated publications in storage, of which 25% are inventoried.
This past year saw several multi-ton donations sent overseas, namely to Afghanistan and Bangladesh as well as a shipment to Papua New Guinea. In all of these locations the committee enlisted the help of local societies (e.g. the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia) and student chapters affiliated with the AAPG to participate with the donations to the universities. Of course none of this would have been possible without the generous support of our corporate partners like Anadarko, ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co., Samson, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Additional shipments are in progress or planned to Argentina, Azerbaijan, India, Iraq, Mongolia, Nigeria, and Vietnam.
Critical Activities
Our most urgent problems are identifying universities that need the publications, finding AAPG members Annual Report 1757 who are close to the recipient universities and will work with the AAPG Publication Pipeline in arranging receipt of publications as well as locating companies and/or organizations willing to underwrite shipment costs.
Our biggest challenge is arranging shipments at a pace sufficient to equal our intake of donations. In spite of the general desire for publications, making contacts with universities overseas and arranging shipments is a slow process. This process is helped by working with and through our AAPG regional organizations and affiliates. This year’s special emphasis will be put upon getting more AAPG members involved, especially in-country members and student chapters who can help facilitate and ensure an efficient donation program. In addition we will continue to contact corporate partners and government organizations to solicit funds to ship publications to universities that need them.
This past year also saw the committee having to vacate the large donated warehouse facility in Houston that we used to store our publications because of the sale of the facility. In the meantime a long-time supporter of the committee, Samson Resources, has helped the committee locate a (much smaller) temporary facility to store our inventory until a bigger facility can be found.
The Pipeline Needs Your Help!
We request aid from the membership in five ways:
- Help us identify universities overseas in need of publications. Consider acting as an ambassador for our cause.
- Recommend to your company that they sponsor a shipment of publications overseas to needy universities in the host country of your operations. Experience shows that is a win-win activity for all involved.
- We need the help of individuals to join us on the committee. Help is especially needed in Houston to work with us in handling donations and arranging distributions.
- If and when you decide to dispose of your library, please keep us in mind. Overseas universities often do need both books and periodicals.
- We do need funding. The AAPG provided us with a $4,500 budget this last year but to be most effective we need at least $22,000 a year. Donations can be made to the AAPG Foundation marked for the Publication Pipeline, either endowment or operating funds. We are geoscientists helping geoscientists.
Rick Wall, Chair
Committee Members: Kunle A. Adesida, Mike Bryarly, Martin Cassidy (treasurer), Chuck Caughey, Dave Drowley (secretary), John S. Dudar, Joe Forrest, Robbie Gries, Jan Heagy, Claren Kidd, George Klein (GSA conferee), Thomas Klopf, Kehinde Ladipo, Jasper Nwachukwa, Tim Russell, Nahum Schneidermann, Ray Sorenson, Charlotte Sullivan, Rick Wall (chair), Gerrit Wind (vice-chair), and Pinar Yilmaz.