Kentucky Geological Survey 2020 Data Preservation Project

Objective 1 - Lab Document Digitization and Data Dissemination Lab documents, spanning 27 years, will be scanned, correlated with project and location data, and made available online through a new public search interface. The project will result in a new digital archive and standard operating procedures saving the survey money and increasing efficiency of our employees and external inquires. Lab data will become more accessible and their search ability will be expanded to include analyses, project, and location information. Objective 2 - Oil and Gas Well Sample Collection Reappraisal and Sample Rescue KGS's well sample collection represents over 17,000 wells from the state of Kentucky. Water damage and a lack of resources have resulted in roughly 5,000 sets at risk of deteriorating beyond the quality necessary for proper analysis. This project will evaluate the health of the collection resulting in the deaccession or rescue of samples as necessary. Flagged samples will be processed for deaccession or rescued using EPA approved mold remediation and sample washing techniques. These processes will protect the survey's collection from further deterioration and increase available data. Overall, this project will enhance the survey's ability to serve the public research quality specimens, establish quality standards for future accessed material and improve storage capacity at the KGS Earth Analysis Research Library (EARL).