Australian Geoscience goes Global

Australian geoscientists are worth their weight in papers, if not in precious metals, as they produce a disproportionate share of geoscience literature. According to a media release from Science Minister Peter McGauran on 15 October 2003, "With only 0.3% of the global population, Australia produces more than 5% of all geoscience publications and receives an equivalent share of citations, the highest of any scientific field in Australia".

However, following the demise of the Australian Earth Sciences Information Service (AESIS) in 2001, it has become difficult to find this material. To remedy this bibliographic black hole, Geoscience Australia and the American Geological Institute have made an agreement to include major Australian geoscience publications in the GeoRef database, with this material starting to appear in November 2003. Australian material will also be available as a subset of GeoRef called AusGeoRef.

C T Peters

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