At a meeting of the Geosciences Information Society at the GSA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC, in early November, 2012. This milestone was announced by Richard Huffine, the Library Director of the USGS. He further said that the Open File Reports is the main series not complete yet.
Here is the link to an information session he gave in August, 2012: “Information Resources from the U. S. Geological Survey”:
http://www.slideshare.net/richardhuffine/usgs-info-resources-gpo-aug-2012
The Nature of Science and the Scientific Method [pdf]
http://www.geosociety.org/educate/NatureOfScience.htm
For those who haven’t been in science class for some time, the scientific method may be a bit of a hazy memory. Those people (educators and others included) who need a bit of a refresher, along with a nice guide to talking about the scientific method, will find this resource from The Geological Society of America most efficacious. Authored by scientist Christine V. McLelland, this 9-page document “promotes understanding of the nature of science and how the scientific method is used to advance science, focusing in particular on the Earth sciences.” The document covers topics like “What is Science?” and breaks the scientific method down into its five primary parts. It also offers some brief talking points about the nature of science, and a nice bibliography.”
Source: Scout Report, Univ. of Wisconsin, Apr. 13, 2012