The Great Australian Byte
The Newsletter of the Australian Geoscience Information Association (Inc) October 2013, Volume 14 Part 2 ISSN 1325–3700
AGIA AGM AGIA 2013 GEOSCIENCE
5.30pm for 6.00pm start INFORMATION SEMINAR: Thursday 31st October 2013 CAN YOU TRUST YOUR Mineral House DATA?
100 Plain St, Perth WA 1.30pm-5.30pm th …and continuing nearby for dinner Thursday 24 October 2013 Mineral House afterwards for those who would like to 100 Plain St, Perth WA take the opportunity to socialise with Register online at their fellow AGIA members. RSVP http://www.trybooking.com/DQVK Tuesday 29th October to AGIA members $35, Non-members $50 [email protected] Registrations close 22/10/2013. Enquiries to Sandy Hayward
CONTENTS AGIA News Highlights ...... 2 South Australian branch news ...... 3 South Australian and Western Australian AGIA members connect ...... 4 Scrap the Cap ...... 5 PPDM 2013 Perth Data Management SymposiUm ...... 6 AGC votes to re-join STA ...... 8 AGIA Occasional Papers: Can you help? ...... 8 Articles & presentations of Interest ...... 9 Upcoming Events ...... 9 WebSites & Mailing Lists of Interest ...... 9 AGIA 2013 Geoscience Information Seminar: Can you trust your data? ...... 10 Notice of Annual General Meeting 2013 ...... 11 Australian Geoscience Information Association Inc. National Committee 2012–13 ...... 14
AGIA is a member of the Australian Geoscience Council
1
AGIA NEWS HIGHLIGHTS The National Committee has been busy co-ordinating the upcoming AGIA 2013 Geoscience Information Seminar: Can you trust your data? to be held on Thursday 24th October at Mineral House in Perth. The seminar will provide a valuable opportunity to learn how colleagues in government and industry geoscience organisations are creating, exposing and maintaining trusted data. The full program for the seminar can be found on page 10. The AGIA AGM will be held Thursday 31st October, and this is a chance for AGIA members to meet, hear what AGIA has achieved during the past year, and perhaps nominate for a committee position! Official notification of the meeting and accompanying documents has been forwarded to AGIA’s financial members (please contact [email protected] if you have not received your AGM documents). If you are considering nominating for a committee position you are welcome to contact current National Committee members for more information. Nominations close Thursday 3rd October. Details for these events are also listed on the Events page of the AGIA website.
AGIA GROUP DISCUSSIONS UNESCO paper: Economics of long term digital storage Map, GIS and Cataloging / Metadata Librarian Core Competencies Effective library experimentation & innovation Scrap the cap on self-education expenses Title of Interest: Petroleum Law and Policy in Australia: Publisher LexisNexis Work begins on a process to allow Research Data Australia records to be harvested and indexed by Thomson Reuters Data Citation Index
FROM THE NEWSLETTER EDITOR Thank you to Julie Roberts for the update on AGIA happenings in South Australia, and to Kerry Smith for providing words and pictures which capture Julie’s visit to Western Australia. I encourage AGIA members from around Australia to share news of geoscience information events and developments in their state/ territory. Articles for the GAB are warmly received!
Thanks, and happy reading! Vanessa Johnson
2
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH NEWS
AGIA AND DMITRE COMING TOGETHER TO SHARE GEOSCIENCE INFORMATION The South Australian branch of AGIA and the South Australian Department for Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources & Energy (Resources & Energy Division) jointly hosted a very successful information sharing morning at the Department’s training rooms in Grenfell Street, Adelaide, on Friday 19 July 2013. The programme covered two main sessions. The first was a presentation of SARIG – South Australian Resources Information Geoserver – an award-winning online web application developed by the Department’s Minerals and Energy Group which enables users to search, view and down load information relating to minerals, petroleum and geothermal exploration in South Australia through multi- layered applications. Michael Ross, representing DMITRE, presented an overview of SARIG and demonstrated the many features that enable members of the resource industries and the public to now have free access to over 125 years of government and company non-confidential South Australian geoscience information. With 40 years’ experience across multiple disciplines within the resources industry, Michael had a leading role in the development and advocacy of SARIG and that became very apparent from the enlightening insight he gave into the innovative integration of Geographical Information System (GIS) map- based information and reference materials that has been made possible through modern technologies and high quality databases. The next session covered a presentation of AESIS – Australian Earth Sciences Information System – and of AusGeoRef. Though now a static file, AESIS with over 200,000 references remains perhaps the largest integrated reference source for published and “unpublished” documented Australian geoscience information across the spectrum of geoscience subjects. AusGeoRef, with some 74,000 references from AESIS, and its own coverage of geoscience literature back to 1840, continues to cover current published Australian geoscience literature through co-operative input from Geoscience Australia. The presentation of the two databases was made by Julie Roberts from Santos who has worked in the geoscience information field for most of her professional career, much of it managing data processing for AESIS and creation of products from the database. Julie also has vast experience in the use of national and international geoscience databases. The availability of AESIS online through Informit and retention of the database for use by the geoscience community has been largely due to her untiring efforts and initiatives. Everyone attending was very impressed with SARIG and as far as AESIS went it was apparent that some were not aware of its existence nor of its breath of coverage, but those that did were glad to know that it was once again available for use online. Approximately 30 people attended, mostly from the minerals and petroleum industries with some from the University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Institute for Minerals and Energy Resources, as well as members of AGIA and DMITRE. An attractive flyer for the event and all arrangements for the meeting were organised by Pam Aagaard, the Department’s Librarian and AGIA (SA) Committee Member.
3
For further information on SARIG go to www.sarig.dmitre.sa.gov.au For online access to AESIS contact [email protected] or [email protected]
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN AND WESTERN AUSTRALIAN AGIA MEMBERS CONNECT It was lovely to catch up with Julie Roberts on June 18th 2013 when she got in touch and we arranged to meet her and fellow colleague from Santos, Carrina Phoenix, for a meal and a chat. A recent email from Des Tellis, guru of the Australian Mineral Foundation (AMF) days, reminded me of how long I’d known Julie. As Des wrote: Julie has spent her entire professional life in the geoscience information field, from work experience as a teenager to being now with Santos’ Information Group nearly 35 years on, with two maternity breaks. There wouldn’t be many other special librarians with such a record of continuity in one discipline. She has worked on the development of AESIS and other computer-based information services at AMF from their early days, involved in data processing and data management in close collaboration with CSIRO CILES. When AESIS moved to InfoOne/CLIRS and the GEOPAC suite of databases she also developed and conducted training sessions at AMF and interstate for searching the databases on these systems. At AMF over many years she was also the main librarian involved in searching international databases for clients with great proficiency. Julie has been a stalwart member of AGIA SA branch for many years and we very much appreciate and look forward to a continued association with her and her SA colleagues. Dr Kerry Smith
Clockwise from left: Camille Peters, Lyn Trouchet, Carrina Phoenix, Angela Riganti, Liz Amann, Julie Roberts, Kerry Smith, Vanessa Johnson. Photograph from Kerry Smith
4
SCRAP THE CAP
AGIA CONTRIBUTES TO THE CAMPAIGN OPPOSING THE INTRODUCTION OF A CAP ON SELF-EDUCATION EXPENSES Earlier this year the Australian Government announced that it planned to introduce a $2000 cap on work-related self-education expenses as part of tax reforms in the 2013 Budget. A Discussion Paper was released in May 2013, and submissions closed on 12th July 2013. AGIA joined with many other professional and scientific bodies to oppose the introduction of the cap, and supported the Australian Geoscience Council’s (AGC) submission to the Australian Government Treasury Department in response to the Discussion Paper:
…The Australian Geoscience Council is very concerned by the Government’s proposal to introduce a $2,000 cap on tax deductions for work-related self education. We regard the proposal as short-sighted, one that will have an increasingly adverse impact on productivity in an important part of the Australian economy, and one which will stifle innovative initiatives so necessary for economic growth. If the Government wishes to persevere with this detrimental policy, we urge that the cap be increased significantly to reflect the real costs of self education in this day and age.
The #ScrapTheCap alliance brought together more than 80 professional bodies and collected in excess of 24,000 signatures in an online petition opposing the cap. The social media campaign and submissions by professional bodies has resulted in the deferral of the introduction of the cap, pending further consultation. The Economic Statement 2013 issued by the outgoing Labor Government states: The Government has decided to defer the introduction of the $2000 cap on work related education expense deductions until 1 July 2015. This will allow for further consultation on how best to target excessive claims while ensuring the impact on university enrolments and genuine continuing professional development is minimised. This measure is expected to decrease receipts by $250 million over the forward estimates period.
The recently elected Liberal Government is yet to advise its position in the self- education expenses cap. Read more at http://www.scrapthecap.com.au/
5
PPDM 2013 PERTH DATA MANAGEMENT SYMPOSIUM PPDM’s 2013 Perth Data Management Symposium held 7t h- 8th August provided a great opportunity to hear how colleagues are dealing with common petroleum data management challenges. A small sample of topics presented follows. Scott Tideman of Petrosys spoke on a topic close to the professional heart of many AGIA members - Maximizing the value of unstructured material: the resurgence of the librarian in digital form as a knowledge and learning source. The presentation was co-authored by Volker Hirsinger and Dirk Adams (Petrosys), and Robert Winsloe (Digital Earth Inc.), and was originally presented at PPDM’s Houston conference earlier in 2013. AGIA members may recall Volker’s call for input in our last newsletter.
Hirsinger, Winsloe & Adams 2013 – Maximizing the value of unstructured data. Reproduced with permission.
Tideman spoke of the value of leveraging existing resources and systems to unlock unstructured data such as tabular reports, well completion reports, text within graphic documents, field studies and scientific papers. Unstructured data can be seen as less valuable than structured data where it is not relevant to an organisation’s current area of interest. Such data is often neglected since it falls outside data management constructs which focus on highly valued structured data. Controlled metadata can be applied to unstructured data via traditional library metadata tools, such as taxonomies, indexes, thesauri and classification schemes. Resources which earned specific mention included AESIS, GeMPet, AGI Glossary of Geology, EJC Thesaurus of Engineering Terms, as well as more general tools such as Library of Congress Subject Headings and the Dewey Decimal System. Good metadata improves access to unstructured data, enabling more targeted search results and eliminating the ‘noise’ which is commonly generated by natural
6
language searching. Tideman noted the need for indexing tools to keep pace with current knowledge in order to remain useful, and warned of the dangers of anarchistic tagging. In summary, the combination of structured master data, links between structured & unstructured data, peer reviewed taxonomies, subject indexes & thesauri, E&P aware geographic tags, and appropriate natural language searching provide the best search outcomes. Mark Ducksbury of the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA), Andrew Owen of Geoscience Australia (GA) and Felicia Irimies of WA’s Department of Mines & Petroleum (DMP) each presented an overview of some of the challenges their organisations face in managing petroleum data, and the architecture they have built and continue to renovate in order to maintain data in a way which ensures its preservation and ongoing accessibility. There are challenging days ahead as these public bodies work together to create new data repositories such as the National Offshore Petroleum Data and Core Repository (NOPDCR), which will contain confidential data acquired under offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas titles within Australian Commonwealth waters. Andrew Owen stated that: GA is collaborating with WA’s Department of Mines and Petroleum to establish an east coast repository (GA repository) and a west coast repository (GSWA’s Carlisle Repository) that will manage all in-confidence 2/3 cores, cuttings, and thin sections at GSWA’s Carlisle Repository and all digital in-confidence 1/3 cores, cuttings, fluids, and all digital well and survey data at GA’s Repository.
GA is also planning a new asset management system akin to Western Australia’s WAPIMS database. The working title for the new database is the National Offshore Petroleum Management Information Management System (NOPIMS), and although no date has been set for the launch of the new system GA can be
7
confident it is eagerly awaited by everyone who seeks access to open file petroleum data. Presentations can be viewed on the PPDM website https://ppdm.org/event/view/archived/84 AGIA held a networking breakfast at The George the morning after the PPDM Symposium. The event was very well attended with a large number of representatives from Perth’s petroleum data management sector attending. PPDM representatives Trudy Curtis and Cara Henry who travelled from Canada to host the symposium also attended the AGIA breakfast, and the gathering enjoyed a lively discussion about future networking opportunities – especially chocolate tasting! Vanessa Johnson
AGC VOTES TO RE-JOIN STA The Australian Geoscience Council recently voted to re-join Science and Technology Australia (formerly known as FASTS), the peak body representing Australian organisations with a collective membership of 68,000 scientists and technologists. STA undertakes discussions with decision makers on policy developments in Australia and communicates with the highest level of government – it is the “turn to” port of call for politicians and public servants on matters of science and technology. The AGC felt that membership of STA would assist the AGC in advocacy at the highest levels on matters specifically relevant to the geosciences. Brad Pillans has been appointed as AGC representative to STA for an initial period of 12 months, and members societies are invited to suggest issues which could be chanelled through STA. AGIA members are encouraged to contact the National Committee regarding any issues which might be addressed through STA.
AGIA OCCASIONAL PAPERS: CAN YOU HELP? The National Committee has digitised a number of AGIA’s Occasional Papers and made them available on the AGIA website. AGIA would like to make the complete set available digitally and would be interested to know if any of our membership is able to make copies of the papers below available to complete the process: Occasional Paper 7 Union List of Serials in Western Australian Geoscience Libraries Edited by Irene Nutt & Bobbie Bruce (1993) Occasional Paper 6 Union list of journals in NSW geoscience libraries Suzanne Newton (1992) Occasional Paper 5 AGIA Union list of journals in NSW geoscience libraries 1990 Suzanne Mead (1990) Please contact Vanessa Johnson on [email protected] if you can help.
8
ARTICLES & PRESENTATIONS OF INTEREST
GEOSCIENCE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND SERVICES: WHAT’S NEW AND WHAT’S COMING Tracey Rogers provided an update on data delivery and access provided by the Northern Territory Geological Survey at the Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) 2013. Developments include: Upgrade to the STRIKE web mapping system New Core Sampling Report bibliographic database NT Geoscience GIS Package release Infocentre clients increasingly take up online self-service options See the NTGS website to view AGES 2013 presentations and abstracts. GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA WAREHOUSE [GDW] – ACCESSING AND DELIVERING NSW GEOSCIENCE DATA An interesting article in the June edition of TAG about the genesis of the GDW, how it works, access, available data and maps for mobile devices http://gsa.org.au/pdfdocuments/TAG's/TAG%20167WEB.pdf
UPCOMING EVENTS AGIA Seminar/Workshop – 24th October 2013 AGIA AGM – 31st October 2013 GSIS/GSA 2013 Annual Meeting: 27th – 30th October 2013 Denver, Colorado WA DMP online systems demonstration – 7th November 2013 AGIA XMAS Breakfast – December 2013 3rd Australasian University Geoscience Educators Network (AUGEN) meeting to be held at QUT in Brisbane, January 2014 NTGS 15th AGES Conference 18th-19th March 2014, Alice Springs http://www.ages.nt.gov.au/ SLA 2014 Annual Conference & Info-Expo, 8-10 June 2014, Vancouver Canada
WEBSITES & MAILING LISTS OF INTEREST AUGEN www.geoscience-education.edu.au GeoEdLink subscribe, archives Australian National Data Service (ANDS) http://ands.org.au/ WAIN mailing list subscribe NTGS Update subscribe
9
THE AUSTRALIAN GEOSCIENCE INFORMATION ASSOCIATION INC
AGIA 2013 GEOSCIENCE INFORMATION SEMINAR: CAN YOU TRUST YOUR DATA? 1.30pm – 5.30pm, Thursday 24th October 2013 WA Department of Mines & Petroleum, 100 Plain St, Perth WA
Chevron Australia’s Subsurface Data Management Program Jenny Mikucki, Manager, Upstream Technical Computing, Information Systems, Chevron Australia Chevron Australia has embarked on a three-year program of work to implement the Subsurface Data Management Strategy that was developed in 2011. Hear how a strategic approach provides better access to trusted subsurface data incorporating People, Process and Technology. GSWA/DMP Data & Software Download Centre Stephen Bandy, General Manager, Geoscience Information, GSWA Learn about the spatial application software, including GeoMap.WA and the Mineral Exploration Reporting Templates Software available from the Data & Software Download Centre. Managing and Visualizing Spatial Data from an A Class Reserve Keith Hickey, GIS Coordinator, Information Systems, Chevron Australia A strict environmental management plan has enabled petroleum activities to successfully coexist with Barrow Island's unique flora and fauna. The GIS Team has developed a single user web interface for visualizing attribute data referenced to their spatial location. The collection of data from many joint venture contract companies visualized through a single user interface ensures a complete picture of events, enables planning, quality decision making and assists in the mitigation of incidents.
----- Afternoon Tea ----- GeoVIEW.WA Demonstration Rick Rogerson, Executive Director, GSWA The online GIS-based mapping tool GeoVIEW.WA allows users to view, query, and map various geoscientific and related datasets. Users can construct and print a customized geological map (by chosen area and scale) and incorporate other mineral and petroleum exploration datasets including mines and mineral deposits, petroleum wells, and active leases. Chevron’s Information Governance Journey Rhonda Beaton, IM Compliance Coordinator, Information Systems, Chevron Australia What Chevron’s Information Governance Framework looks like, why they need it now, and how they plan to implement it. WAMEX Demonstration Anne Fitton, Manager, Mineral Exploration Information, GSWA Hot off the press! A preview of the new WAMEX database search tool which provides definitive access to WA’s open file mineral exploration reports.
----- Sundowners -----
Register online at http://www.trybooking.com/DQVK
AGIA members $35, Non-members $50 Registrations close 22/10/2013. Enquiries to Sandy Hayward [email protected]
10
AGIA (Inc.) NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2013 The 2013 Annual General Meeting of Australian Geoscience Information Association Incorporated will be held at:
TIME: 5.30 p.m with meeting to commence at 6 p.m. DATE: Thursday 31st October 2013 VENUE: Mineral House, 100 Plain St, Perth, WA In accordance with the Constitution of AGIA, I call for nominations for the following positions:
.President
.Vice-President
.Secretary
.Treasurer
.Committee members – at least 4, of which one is the Editor and all of whom shall be members of the Association. Nominations for positions on the National Committee shall consist of members within the relevant Branch, in this instance, Western Australia. Nominations should be made on the attached form and sent to the Secretary at the address below no later than close of business on Thursday 3 October 2013. The order of business for the meeting is on the attached agenda. Other business items, or motions to be considered at the AGM should be notified to the Secretary at the address below, or emailed to [email protected] and should be no later than close of business on Thursday 10 October 2013 for inclusion in a revised agenda. Lyn Trouchet Secretary, AGIA With dinner after the meeting for those interested. ______
11
Nomination Form AGIA National Committee 2013/2014
I accept nomination for the position of ......
Proposer ......
Please print name
Proposer ......
Please sign
Seconder ......
Please print name
Seconder ......
Please sign
Nominee ......
Please print name
Nominee ......
Please sign ______
12
AGIA (Inc) 2013 Annual General Meeting Agenda Meeting to be held at Mineral House, 100 Plain St, Perth, WA Tuesday 31 October from 5.30 p.m. The AGM will commence at 6 p.m. Order of business 1. Opening of meeting, attendance, apologies.
2. Minutes of previous AGM 18th September 2012 – draft emailed.
3. Reports a. President b. Treasurer c. Newsletter Editor d. Membership Secretary e. Project/s report/s f. South Australian branch report
4. Item of Special Business: a. Unfortunately the new AGIA National Constitution approved at the 2012 AGM was not submitted to the Department of Commerce during the time frame allowed. As a result, the AGIA Constitution approved at last year’s AGM needs to be ratified at this year’s (2013) AGIA AGM. Two documents refer: The revised Constitution as at 25 September 2013; and (b) the attached EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM- CONSTITUTIONAL AND GUIDELINE AMENDMENTS. b. MOTION: That Motions 1 – 16 relevant to the amendments to the AGIA Constitution, 2013 be accepted; c. OR that each Motion be dealt with separately. d. MOTION: That the changes to the AGIA Guidelines, as described above in items 1-16 of the Explanatory Memorandum quoted in Item 4(a) above, are supported.
5. Election of Office bearers President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Committee Members – at least 4 6. Other Business
7. Close of Meeting
______
13
AUSTRALIAN GEOSCIENCE INFORMATION ASSOCIATION INC. NATIONAL COMMITTEE 2012–13
PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT ANGELA RIGANTI JENNY MIKUCKI WA Geology Online Content Manager Upstream Technical Computing Team Lead GSWA, Chevron Australia Pty Ltd Department of Mines and Petroleum, L15, QV1, 100 Plain Street, 250 St Georges Terrace EAST PERTH WA 6004 PERTH WA 6000 PH: (08) 9222 3063 PH: (08) 9485 5176 FAX: (08) 9222 3633 FAX: (08) 9216 4353 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/pub/angela- LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/pub/jenny- riganti/50/90/744 mikucki/4b/31b/191
SECRETARY TREASURER LYN TROUCHET SANDY HAYWARD Barrick Gold of Australia Limited 18 Ord Street Level 9, Brookfield Place, NEDLANDS WA 6009 125 St Georges Terrace, PH: (08) 6162 8841, PERTH WA 6000 M: 0417 095227 PH: (08) 6318 5880 Email: [email protected] FAX: (08) 6318 5555 Email: [email protected] MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY NEWSLETTER EDITOR and SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR KERRY SMITH Email: [email protected] VANESSA JOHNSON LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/pub/kerry- IM Analyst smith/52/730/425 Technical Library Shell Development (Australia) Pty Ltd 2 Victoria Ave PERTH WA 6000 PH: (08) 9338 6000 Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/pub/vanessa- johnson/17/930/7b5 COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMITTEE MEMBER MARGARET ELLIS CAMILLE PETERS Coordinator Exploration Incentive Scheme, Information Resources Specialist GSWA, Apache Energy Ltd Department of Mines and Petroleum, 100 St Georges Terrace 100 Plain Street, PERTH WA 6000 EAST PERTH WA 6004 PO Box 477 PH: (08) 9222 3509 WEST PERTH WA 6872 FAX: (08) 9222 3893 PH: (08) 6218 7253, Email: [email protected] FAX: (08) 6218 7200 Email: [email protected] COMMITTEE MEMBER AGC REPRESENTATIVES:
LIZ AMANN MARGARET ELLIS, ANGELA RIGANTI BHP Billiton Nickel West Central Park Level 17, 152–156 St Georges Tce PERTH WA 6000 PH: (08) 6274 1339 FAX: (08) 6274 1339 Email: [email protected]
14