GEOBASE

Summary

• Geology - Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Sedimentary, Igneous and Metamorphic Geology, Stratigraphy, Palaeontology, Geophysics, Environmental Geology, Economic Geology and Energy Sources
• Geomechanics - Rock and Soil Mechanics, Hydrogeology, Dams and tunnels, Earthquake Engineering, Site Investigation, Risk analysis, Waste disposal
• Oceanography - Physical Oceanography, Marine Geology, Marine Meteorology, Biological Oceanography, Chemical Oceanography, Pollution and Environment
• Physical Geography - Meteorology and climatology, GIS, Mapping, Remote Sensing, The Quaternary, Hydrology, Soil science, Global Change, Environmental Pollution, Geomorphology and Sedimentology
• Human Geography - Environmental resources, Demography, Culture, Politics, Rural and Urban studies, National, Regional and Community Planning, Environmental Planning, Trade and Development, Agriculture, Industry, Transport, Tourism, Historical Geography
• International Development - Environment, Agriculture, Natural resources, Economic reform, Investment, Industry, Demography, Urbanisation and Housing, Health and Food, Education, Poverty, Gender, Culture, Aid, Trade, International relations, Politics
• Ecology - Terrestrial Ecology, Aquatic Ecology (Marine, Estuarine and Freshwater), Microbial Ecology, Conservation, Applied Ecology (including Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, Pests/Diseases and Pollution), Evolution and Palaeoecology

Inclusion Policy

New sources are considered for inclusion once per year.

Evaluation policy

Samples of serial sources are evaluated for quality and content using the following criteria:

• journal scope and subject coverage
• scientific/editorial quality (editorial board, peer review)
• form and layout (including appearance and standard of the abstract, if present)
• language
• publisher

Samples that are within the scope of GeoBase are scored using a point system, and overall quality is defined using a category code.

The following additional information is collected or scored for most serial sources: subject coverage, abstract quality (for English language abstracts), title language(s), article language(s), coverage in Current Contents.

These data, together with the category codes, provide the criteria that are used to determine whether a source will be selected for GeoBase.

Sources from all countries are given equal priority.

Journals with articles in languages other than English, French, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian must publish abstracts in English. If the article language is in a non-Roman script English language titles must be provided by the publisher.

Subject coverage

Core: Human and physical geography (theoretical geography, historical geography, population, people & regions, rural & urban studies, international development, national, regional & community planning, agriculture, industry & services, transport & communications, marine policy & law, environmental resources & planning; landforms, the quaternary, sedimentology, soils, hydrology, meteorology & climatology, remote sensing, GIS & mapping, mineralogy & petrology, geochemistry & geochronology, stratigraphy & palaeontology, structural geology & tectonics, geophysics, geomechanics, environmental geology, economic geology, physical & chemical oceanography, marine technology & engineering

High: Terrestial geology, ecology (fisheries & mariculture, marine ecology, tidal & estuarine ecology, freshwater ecology, terrestial ecology, microbial ecology, economic ecology, weeds, pests & diseases, pollution, nature conservation), oceanography, international development

Low: Extraterrestial geology, microbial ecology, fisheries, fluid mechanics

Source types covered

• Journal
• Book Series
• Trade Journal
• Proceeding

Covered in the past

• Book
• Report
• Patent

Item types covered

A cover-to-cover policy is operative for all sources, including the following item types:

• Article
• Review
• Short Survey
• Conference Paper
• Letter
• Editorial
• Note
• Erratum

Geographical Coverage

• UK. 31%
• Europe. (+Middle East & Africa) 42%
• North and South America. 27%

Gap Fill Policy

Policy is to be complete as of the first year of coverage of a source in GeoBase. There is a claiming process in place for missing issues.

Archive Policy

Policy is to cover a source as of the year that it was decided to include the source. Adding content back to the first volume is currently not taking place.

Embargo Rules

No embargo rules apply

Update Frequency

Up to daily (update frequency on different platforms varies)

Content Classification

Classification codes - an indication of the subject of the item structured into a controlled hierarchical scheme. Changes to scheme are made on a very infrequent basis. Primary function is to place items within the heading/subheading system in print sections.

Keywords and Indexes

GeoBase records are indexed with the help of three thesauri: GEOTREE, REGTREE and ORGTREE.

• Subject indexing - GEOTREE is a controlled hierarchical thesaurus containing about 11000 terms. Usually about 6 terms are added to each item
• Regional indexing - REGTREE is a controlled hierarchical thesaurus containing about 20000 terms. Terms are added to records which have a specific regional/spatial context. The most specific location possible is specified by the indexer and all terms with a successive "broader than" relationship are auto-posted to the record
• Organism indexing - ORGTREE is a controlled hierarchical thesaurus containing about 500,000 terms. Terms are added to items referring to specific organisms. Terms are added by automatic process. It is also possible to add terms manually.

Authority Files

Authority files are used to ensure consistency and accuracy of journal titles. No authority files are used for author names and affiliations.

Citation Linking

Citation linking is not provided

Full Text Linking

Full text linking is dependant on the platform that is used for GeoBase.

GeoBase XML output, which is at the present time provided to two of its current platforms - Engineering Village and I-Group, is Open URL compliant.

DOI's are available for over 70% of current GeoBase records.