Pennsylvania Geological Survey Library
A U.S. Geological Survey ESIC (Earth Sciences Information Center)
Librarian -Richard (Rick)
Keen
rkeen@state.pa.us
717-702-2020
Assistant Librarian - Lewis Butts
lbutts@state.pa.us
717-702-2018
Located at the main headquarters of the Survey (3240 Schoolhouse Road, Middletown PA 17057), the library is open to the public from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday - Friday.
The Pennsylvania Geological Survey's library is the only library in the state that houses a collection of topographic maps and aerial photographs. It also contains a large collection of geologic texts, maps, and journals. Most materials may be taken out of the library for one month. Material without a circulation card may not go out. Interlibrary loans are available for materials not in the collection.
The library collection includes over 20,000 geological texts and maps and more than 60 geological journal titles. Government documents and selected publications from other states and countries are available.
A complete collection of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey publications are in the library. (See Publication Series of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey for a description of each series in the Fourth Survey collection and Repository Libraries for a worldwide list of libraries that receive Survey publications.)
U.S. Geological Survey publications housed in the library include bulletins, circulars, professional papers, a few field folios for Pennsylvania and other states, a complete set of thematic maps (for example, geophysical- or coal-investigation maps) for areas in the United States (also some for planets), and folios (15-minute, 1:62,500 geologic maps and text from the early 1900's) for Pennsylvania. The thematic maps and folios are not circulated.
The collection also includes information circulars, reports of investigations, technical progress reports, and mineral yearbooks published by the U.S. Bureau of Mines.
Materials are listed in a (manual) card catalogue by subject, author, title, and index, and a digital database (GEOREF) is available for bibliographic searches.
Topographic Maps and Orthophotoquads
The library collection includes topographic maps (published by the U.S. Geological Survey) for areas in Pennsylvania at the various scales listed below. All maps can be viewed in the library, but maps for personal use must be purchased from private vendors or the U.S. Geological Survey (telephone number 303-202-4700).
7.5-minute 7.5-minute areas, 1:24,000 scale
15-minute 15-minute areas, 1:62,500 scale
County countywide areas, 1:50,000 scale
Regional 30- x 60-minute areas, 1:100,000 scale;
1- x 2-degree areas, 1:250,000 scale
State statewide area, 1:500,000 scale
An incomplete set of diazo-print orthophotoquads (black and white photoimages) are also available for some of the 7.5-minute quadrangles. The orthophotoquads are not circulated; however, they may be purchased from the U.S. Geological Survey (telephone number 573-308-3500).
Aerial-photograph collections are from the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and cover a 50-year time period (see descriptions below). Coverage varies and is indicated on indexes for each collection. Check-out period for aerial photographs is one month. The phone number for the library is (717) 702-2020.
Agricultural and Stabilization Conservation Series (1946-81). These photographs are leaf on and black and white. The scale is generally 1:20,000, but photographs from the late 1970's and later have scales of 1:40,000.
U.S. Geological Survey (mostly late 1960's and 1970's). The photographs in this series are leaf off and black and white. The scale is generally 1:20,000, but photographs from the late 1970's and later have scales of 1:40,000.
National High-Altitude Photography (NHAP). This series was initiated in 1980 and was succeeded by the NAPP program. Photographs in this series are high altitude and mostly leaf off and black and white. The scale for black and white photography is 1:80,000. Color-infrared photography is also available at a scale of 1:58,000.
National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP). This series was divided into two phases: the first phase started in 1987, and the second and current phase started in 1992. NAPP photography includes the most recent coverage for Pennsylvania (1987-89 and 1992-94). Photographs taken from 1987-89 are leaf on and mostly black and white, and those taken in the 1990's are leaf off and black and white. The scale is 1:40,000. Color-infrared photography is available from the first phase.
Digital ortho quarter quads (DOQQ) for parts of Pennsylvania can be downloaded from Penn State at: ftp://www.pasda.psu.edu/pub/pasda/. There are now two folders that you can download from: doq and doq99.
DOQQs are rectified and projected digital aerial photographs covering one quarter of a 7.5 minute quadrangle. A single DOQQ file is typically 40MB in size, so download times over a modem may be unreasonable. The DOQQs at the Penn State site are in the same projection as the most recently published 7.5-minute quadrangle.
The principal file name of each DOQQ is the same as the 7.5 minute quadrangle with the addition of a suffix (NW, NE, SE, SW) indicating which quarter of the quadrangle it covers. Each DOQQ is comprised of two files; the image file, which has BIL as the filename extension; and a header file, which has HDR as the filename extension.
| List of Repository libraries in Pennsylvania | Map of Pennsylvania library locations. | |
| List of Repository libraries in the United States, other than PA. | Map of U. S. library locations. | |
| List of Repository libraries in the World, other than in the U.S. | Map of the World library locations. |
| DCNR Home Contact DCNR Privacy Policy Security Policy PA Home |