AAPG Publication Pipeline Geoscientists Helping Geoscientists Annual Report Fiscal year 2005-2006
The Mission of the Publication Pipeline The mission of the AAPG Publication Pipeline Committee is to improve geoscience education in overseas countries by providing used geoscience books and periodicals at no cost to university libraries and other libraries that request them. 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 help of companies and organizations operating in overseas areas. To date the committee has shipped over 21 tons of publications to universities that need them.
To accomplish this transfer of publications, the AAPG Publication Pipeline has been set up as an ad hoc committee of the AAPG. Donations of publications and money are credited to the AAPG Foundation which is a tax exempt organization. The foundation finances storage of donations until they are shipped. Our budget is $4000 a year. Inventory of publications accepted, and those shipped out to libraries, is important in accounting for these assets. Geoscientists Helping Geoscientists This committee is dedicated to getting books and periodicals to universities and libraries in need. Our most urgent problems are identifying universities that need the publications, finding contacts within the universities to work with the AAPG Publication Pipeline in arranging receipt of publications as well as locating companies and or organizations willing to underwrite shipment costs to the recipient countries. We have a large inventory of publications which we need to move to the end users. Donations of publications to the Publication Pipeline and distributions overseas. From July 1, 2005 to July 1, 2006 the Publication Pipeline accepted donations of geoscience publications from 25 individuals and organizations consisting of 153 boxes (5400 pounds) of publications of which 33 of the boxes wait to be picked up by the committee. We now have about 40 pallets of boxes of publications in storage, of which 70% are inventoried.
The Publication Pipeline committee is about to enter into a multi-donation arrangement with ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company to accept used publications from their library management system. The first shipment consisting of 700 boxes of publications is due to arrive at the warehouse shortly. It is exactly this type of corporate partner that is so important to the success of the committee.
This last year the committee was pleased to present the Mr. Robert Kane of the JA Green Development of Houston Texas with a certificate of appreciation for their very generous donation of warehouse space. Their efforts were recently highlighted in the Houston Business Journal’s annual philanthropic report. Without this type of corporate partnership the committee would not be able to complete its mission.
From July 2005 to July 2006 the committee shipped over 5 tons (10,500 pounds) of books to universities that needed them. These include shipments to Afghanistan with the assistance of U.S. AID and the USGS, Texas Southern University, and universities in Indonesia with the assistance of ConocoPhillips. Additional shipments are currently in progress or planned to Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Iraq (with the cooperation of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland), Papua New Guinea and Mongolia.
In addition, the committee with the help of George Klein, took a proactive approach to contact universities in the U.S. gulf coast that were hit hard by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, to see if the committee could offer assistance to their storm damaged libraries. Many of the universities in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas are still surveying the extent of their damage and have yet to request donations. Storage space is getting critical! As in years past, Robert Kane, manager for the J. A. Green Intercontinental Cargo Center West, has generously provided free storage for our donated books. As a result of the recent economic upturn coupled with our success in attracting donations, our space in his firm’s huge warehouse adjacent to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston is filling up fast. Our current inventory is approaching 40 pallets, about 46,000 pounds, and although JA Green continues to find space for us, unless we start moving more donations overseas, there is a very real and present danger that we will exceed our capacity at the warehouse. This situation will become even more critical when we start to accept our first shipment of publications from ExxonMobil. Challenges Right now our biggest difficulty is in 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. We desperately need the help all AAPG members in identifying universities in need overseas. This year special emphasis will be upon getting the word out that the Publication Pipeline is open for business and that publications are available free of charge to those that need them the most. In addition we will continue contact corporate partners and government organizations to convince them that there are real advantages of all kinds to companies that donate shipping of publications to universities that need them. Donations are not only helpful to the universities, but also to the companies operating in the country or area. The cost is modest and their generosity is immediately apparent. Inventory and Webpage The process of inventorying the contents of boxes of publications is continually underway. This duty is preferably done by the donors but this last year several large donations from estates have lacked an inventory and inventories are usually not available of donations from companies as they consolidate. A grant of $1000 from Anadarko Petroleum has been received to help pay for inventorying of donated material. This grant was a result of the recognition of the tireless volunteer efforts of committee member Ray Sorenson, an Anadarko employee.
Having a complete inventory will allow us to post it on our committee webpage so those desiring donation of publications can see our holdings. A partial inventory of holdings has been put on the Publication Pipeline webpage which is reached through the AAPG website. This list of our holdings can be viewed and downloaded from the web page (www.aapg.org/committees/pubs_pipeline). Updating our webpage and working with the AAPG on its’ design is a continuing effort. Finances The AAPG has provided $4000.00 this year for expenses, which is a great help to the committee. Although the Publication Pipeline Committee is an all volunteer committee, costs are involved in the committee’s operation. Both operating budget and endowment donations of money are needed. Some donors have generously paid for shipping of their donations, but we have lost several large donations because shipping cost was too high for retired donors and the committee could not immediately comm