National Digital Catalog

The National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP) supports and fosters the archival of geological, geophysical, and engineering data, maps, photographs, samples, and other physical specimens by providing technical and financial assistance to state geological surveys and U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) bureaus. Annually, grant recipients provide project deliverables to the NGGDPP, which include metadata records describing the preserved assets. The metadata records are cataloged in the National Digital Catalog (NDC) and structured according to descriptive elements required by the NGGDPP to provide adequate information about the preserved assets and how they may be accessed by the public for geoscientific research.  Direct web links are provided for digital document downloads or online viewing of digital files, such as photographs, maps, and geophysical logs. Direct access to digital data and documents enables users to access resources without having to physically access the collections or contact the data providers, which promotes efficiency and asset discovery and use in research and scientific investigations.

State geological surveys operate independent databases and use differing data structures. Metadata records produced by separate state geological surveys aggregated in the NDC establishes consistency in exposing and describing preserved geoscientific assets. The NDC resides on the USGS ScienceBase data management platform, which allows the NGGDPP to leverage technology developed by the USGS for data management and accessibility across a suite of projects and user communities.