British Geological Survey reports – their characteristics and history
In addition to formal publications BGS has created many thousands of unpublished reports, this page describes the various report series that have been produced from c. 1950 to the present day. In most cases only a few copies were created for deposit in the various Records Offices and Libraries. They can be regarded as 'grey literature' works produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution.
1950–1988
During this period every Programme, Group and even Unit created there own reports independently and were numbered independently
1988–2000
A major reorganization took place in 1988. Two things occurred:
- A unified cross-BGS report system was started. The reports were called 'Technical reports' a small number of 'Research reports' were also created. They were both organized according to 'Activity' rather than Programme/Group/Unit and all reports has a similar numbering system
- All pre-1988 reports were renumbered aligning with the new system according to 'Activity' and to accommodate the large number of previous report series, by 'Subactivity'. The latter is not a feature of the 1988 onwards report system, Subactivity was applied only these pre-1988 legacy reports.
2000–
The previous Activity code basis of numbering reports were dropped. A new system of numbering was created and reports became digital. The Technical reports and Research reports were combined into single Year/number sequences and classed as Research Reports (RR) Internal Reports (IR) Open Reports (OR) Commissioned Reports (CR)
Activity codes applied to 1988–2000 Technical reports and the renumbered 1950–1988 reports
| Activity | Technical reports prefix | Research reports - prefix |
|---|---|---|
| Activity A - Onshore Geology | WA | SA |
| Activity B - Marine Geology | WB | SB |
| Activity C - Overseas Geology | WC | SC |
| Activity D - Hydrogeology | WD | SD |
| Activity E - Fluid Processes | WE | None produced |
| Activity F - Mineral Resources | WF | SF |
| Activity G - Mineralogy & Petrology | WG | SG |
| Activity H - Stratigraphy | WH | SH |
| Activity I - Analytical Geochemistry (Previously Analytical & Applied Geochemistry) | WI | SI |
| Activity J - Energy Resources | WJ | None produced |
| Activity K - Regional Geophysics | WK | None produced |
| Activity L - Global Seismology | WL | None produced |
| Activity M - Geomagnetism | WM | None produced |
| Activity N - Engineering Geology | WN | None produced |
| Activity O - Information & Data Resources (Includes Marketing) | WO | None produced |
| Activity P - Applied Geochemistry - > Geochemistry | WP | SP |