ReSciColl

National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program

The National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP) was established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 with directives amended by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to

  • preserve geologic, geophysical, and engineering data, maps, well logs, and samples;
  • provide technical and financial assistance to state geological surveys and the Department of the Interior;
  • establish a National Catalog to expose preserved geoscience data;
  • provide for preservation of samples to track geochemical signatures from critical mineral (as defined in section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a))) ore bodies for use in provenance tracking frameworks.
photo of core samples stored in a warehouse

A world where all public domain physical samples and geological resources are readily discoverable, accessible and re-usable

NGGDPP vision

ReSciColl

The rebrand and redesign of the National Digital Catalog (NDC) to ReSciColl, the Registry of Scientific Collections, was developed by the NGGDPP with support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). ReSciColl is a central source of metadata records describing geoscience collections from state geological surveys and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). NGGDPP partners with states to preserve geoscience assets and to catalog them in ReSciColl. Using forms designed by NGGDPP, states can upload descriptive information about their collections to ReSciColl. Records in ReSciColl can be searched by the public, stakeholders, and scientists using the map on this website.

Preservation Project Examples
  • Digitize analog data, paper media, photographic media, physical samples etc.
  • Preserve paper geologic maps to GeMS standard database.
  • Update digital data to new formats to enhance interoperability/usability.
  • Improve infrastructure to house, protect and organize samples and artifacts.
  • Rescue valuable materials in imminent danger of loss.
  • Enhance or develop data archiving systems, databases, and web applications to preserve and expose collections and data.
Preservation Project History and Opportunities