<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt">Dear Colleagues, </span><br></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><br>
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Session Chairs Dr. Jim
Beard, Llyn Sharp, and myself invite you personally to present at this year’s
Southeastern Regional Geological Society of America Annual Meeting under our
session titled “<strong><span style="background-repeat:initial initial">Hidden Gems: Geological Collections and Museums in the
Southeastern U.S.”</span></strong></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">The Southeast has a
number of “hidden gems,” geological collections which until now have been
difficult, if not impossible, to access. </span><span style="color:black;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt">Some of these
collections belong to larger institutions where geosciences, and especially
geoscience collections, are not the main focus. This session will discuss the
challenges and successes for uncovering these “hidden gems.” It will address
specifically how these collections and their associated information can be made
more accessible to scientists, educators, and the public through web interfaces
and digital cataloging tools like EGEMS.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11pt">Whether your geological
materials are meticulously organized and digitally cataloged with easy public
access, or in such disarray you </span><span style="font-size:14.399999618530273px">wouldn't</span><span style="font-size:11pt"> even know where to begin to look for a
particular specimen,</span></font><span class="" style="color:black;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt"> </span><b style="color:black;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt">we want you!</b><span class="" style="color:black;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt"> </span><font color="#000000" face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:11pt">We want to know what works, what </span><span style="font-size:14.399999618530273px">doesn't</span><span style="font-size:11pt">, and what innovative ideas are out there for increasing access and
usability to all of our “hidden gems”. The beauty of the world we live in now is
the ease in which we can share information and we do hope you are able to share
your stories, however, even if you </span><span style="font-size:14.399999618530273px">aren't</span><span style="font-size:11pt"> able to present this year, please do
try to attend because this session is for all of us, and will hopefully be the
beginning of a much larger initiative to use today’s technology to bring our
collections out of hibernation and into a vibrant new world!</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">This year’s meeting will
be held on April 10-11 in Blacksburg, VA at the Inn and Conference center at
Virginia Tech. If interested please visit<span class=""> </span><a href="https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014SE/cfp.epl" target="_blank">https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014SE/cfp.epl</a><span class=""> </span>to submit an abstract. <u>The deadline
for abstract submission is January 7.</u> If you have any questions please don’t
hesitate to ask.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Thank you, and apologies for any cross-posting. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><br clear="all">
<div><br></div>-- <br><span style="FONT-FAMILY:'Monotype Corsiva';FONT-SIZE:18pt">Sarah Timm</span><br><br><i><font style="FONT-FAMILY:garamond,serif" size="4">
<p style="LINE-HEIGHT:normal;MARGIN:0in 0in 7.5pt"><i><span style="FONT-FAMILY:'Garamond','serif';FONT-SIZE:13.5pt">Geological Collections & Database Specialist, <span style="FONT-FAMILY:'Garamond','serif';FONT-SIZE:13.5pt">Virginia Museum of Natural History</span><br>
<span>MS in Geosciences with Focus on Geological Collections Management<br>Phone: 845-774-9994</span></span></i></p></font></i>
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