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Editor’s note: Portions of this article appeared in the March 2002 issue of AAPG Explorer and are reprinted with permission.
In July 1999, I wrote a Comment for Geotimes entitled “The Uncertain Fate
of a Geologist’s Library,” drawing attention to the estimated 10 million
geological books, maps, journals and other reference materials belonging to
a large number of retiring U.S.-based geologists that likely would be discarded.
One of the people who read the article and became alarmed was Deborah Ajakaiye,
a Nigerian post-doctoral geophysical researcher at the University of Houston.
Ajakaiye had firsthand knowledge of critical shortages of geological reference
books and journals in African universities. She discussed this problem with
Martin Cassidy, a doctoral candidate at the university and principal of CASMAR
Consulting who had retired from Amoco. They considered ways in which some of
these reference materials could be collected and distributed to university libraries
overseas that needed these references and could put them to good use.
The biggest stumbling blocks to implementing such a plan were costs for collecting,
storing, packing and shipping these references overseas. Cassidy had already
started to collect books and journals from retired and deceased geologists in
Texas and surrounding states, keeping them in storage lockers at his own expense.
He successfully persuaded the University of Houston Department of Geosciences
to provide students, at no cost, to catalog and pack the books and journals.
Finally, because of his prior work in industry, Cassidy knew that oil companies
working overseas often desire to help the education of nationals in countries
where they have worked. He approached several companies about the possibility
of their including books destined for certain universities in countries where
they operated in their regular container shipments and arranging for import.
One company, Conoco, in association with the Nigerian Association of Petroleum
Explorationists, agreed to underwrite a shipment of books to be distributed
to universities in Nigeria in 2001. Thus, the concept of establishing a “publication
pipeline overseas” was born. Even better, a solution to the disposal of
private geological libraries emerged.
Currently, books are being received and arrangements are being made to ship
them overseas. Two shipments were sent this past summer to Thailand underwritten
by ChevronTexaco. An effort is being made, through well-established contacts,
to send a shipment of 5,000 books and journals to the University of Kabul using
government resources. That university’s library was stripped clean of every
holding since the mid-1990s and has a massive rebuilding job to do.
Cassidy formed a local committee in Houston with geologists who worked for major
oil companies, academics and consultants, including this author. Moreover, Cassidy
met with Robbie Gries, then president of the American Association of Petroleum
Geologists (AAPG), to encourage AAPG’s involvement. She, in turn, appointed
Cassidy’s existing committee as a permanent AAPG Publication Pipeline Committee,
making it eligible for possible financial support from the AAPG Foundation,
as well as related support to implement the collection, storage, packing and
shipping of books overseas. As a signal of her own commitment to this important
effort, Gries personally authorized transfer of $3,000 from the AAPG foundation
into a special committee account.
Because the initial focus of the AAPG Publication Pipeline Committee was in
Houston, committee members immediately implemented a plan to enlarge the committee
membership to fully represent the various sections and interests of the entire
profession on an intersociety basis. It is expected that the enlarged membership
will provide books from sources nationwide, including retired faculty at universities
in their region. Finally, all committee members would use their overseas contacts
to provide the committee with lists of publication needs at overseas universities
to assure the best match and avoid duplicate shipments.
It must be emphasized that books in all areas of geology are being collected
to provide a broad base of reference materials for overseas university libraries.
Thus publications in areas removed from petroleum such as mineral deposits,
high-temperature geochemistry, and deep mantle geophysics are also welcome.
In fact, such donations are needed.
Geotimes readers who wish to donate their books and journals to the AAPG
Publication Pipeline Committee, or know of retiring geologists who may wish
to make such donations, are encouraged, indeed, requested to contact Martin
Cassidy, Chairman, AAPG Publication Pipeline Committee, c/o Dept. of Geosciences,
University of Houston, 312 Science and Research Building 1, Houston, TX, 77204-5007;
pager: 713-616-5853; e-mail. Financial
donations for this effort also are welcome and encouraged. Donations, which
are tax-deductible, can be sent to the AAPG Foundation and earmarked for the
AAPG Publications Pipeline Committee.
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