CGI Members at the August 2005 IAMG Conference in Toronto

At the recent IAMG 2005 conference held in Toronto several CGI members were heavily involved in organising a session on Legacy Geoscientific Data - its importance and the issues related to it.

Paper data and information, acquired and generated in the pre-digital era, forms the bulk of the data holdings of geological organisations and individuals around the globe. Funding for field work, new research and data acquisition is often limited and the costs of these activities continue to rise. For these, and other, reasons the value of such legacy data is immense, but it needs to be "unlocked". This session attracted papers which addressed the opportunities and problems presented in attemptin to manage and maximise the value of this legacy in a digital era.

Presenters at the session have agreed to make their presentations available as a resource on the CGI website. CGI is also contemplating producing a "white paper" on the issue of legacy data in the future. If this is an issue that interests you, or you have comments to make on the presentations, then please contact Ian Jackson