Geology

The following endowments provide important supplementary support for the Walter Geology Library acquisitions and operations. These funds contribute significantly to making valuable geology information resources available to University of Texas students and faculty, as well as to geoscience researchers nationally and internationally.

Walter Fund

Established in 1984, the Joseph C. and Elizabeth C. Walter Geology Library Fund supports acquisition of materials in all areas of geology, as well as projects and activities to catalog, digitize and make accessible new and existing library resources. 

Joe Walter: An Appreciation

Tobin Map Fund

The Tobin International Geological Map Collection Fund, established in 1980 by Tobin Research in San Antonio, provides funding for all purchases of maps and atlases for the Tobin Map Collection.

Whitney Memorial Book Fund

This fund focuses on support of acquisitions in paleontology.

Barrow Periodicals Fund

The Barrow Fund supports subscriptions to selected periodicals and journals for the Geology Library.  This endowment was created in 1995 by Tom Barrow and his family.

Chernoff Family Library Fund for Geophysics and Earth System Sensing

This fund supports acquisition of materials in geophysics and remote sensing in all formats. The Chernoff family and Carlotta Chernoff (BA 1992, MA 1995) set up the fund in 2005 to honor Charlie Chernoff for his long career in geophysics.

Wiley Hydrogeology Fund

The Wiley fund supports teaching and research in theoretical and applied water sciences, hydrogeology, hydrology, ground and surface water studies, hydroinformatics, etc. in all formats.  Faculty, staff, and alumni with the help of Mike Wiley (MA 1963, PhD 1970), the Barrow family, and others launched the fund in 2008.

Climate Studies Fund

Funded in 2012 by Jackson School staff member Debra Sue and Brian Trinque, this fund assists the library in acquiring information dealing with all aspects of climate studies.

Wendtlandt Fund

Proceeds are used to purchase geoscience publications in German language or translations from German. 

The Walter Library collection has been built over the decades via two main routes:  purchased acquisitions and donations of materials.  However, the limitations of space and staff, and the real costs of processing, require that the Library be very selective when agreeing to review and accept donated materials.

In general, the library may review and possibly accept these kinds of materials as long as they're in good condition and within the collecting scope of the Geology Library:

• Published monographs, reports, conferences of a scholarly nature not already held (detailed list required in advance)
• Recent (<10 years) and current textbooks in good/new condition
• Extended and complete runs of scholarly periodicals not already held and not available online
• Geological ephemera (e.g. guidebooks) of local or regional interest
• Maps (geologic only) in good condition, not already held

As a condition for accepting large donations, or donations of items requiring specialized processing (obscure or foreign language materials; in need of binding), we may request an add-on monetary donation to defray the costs of cataloging.

The library will not review or accept these things:

• Duplicate materials
• Anything in poor, damaged or fragile condition (any sign of mold or insect infestation; brittle or heat-damaged paper; torn paper or bindings; etc.)
• Materials in library-unfriendly formats (looseleaf, spiral bound, photocopies, etc)
• Miscellaneous issues of periodicals, journals, newsletters
• Non-geologic maps (e.g. topographic)
• Manuscripts; unpublished materials; personal papers; or company records (we are not an archive)
• Well logs or instrument outputs (contact the Bureau of Economic Geology)
• Electronic media (CD-ROMs; DVDs; tapes; flash/hard drives; digital files, e.g. PDF, PPT, etc.)
• Non-textual objects (rocks, fossils, specimens, instruments, photographs, slides, etc)
• Unsolicited large donations (uncataloged boxes)

The University Libraries reserves the right to dispose of any unneeded or unsolicited materials without consultation with the donor. 

Contact the Geology Librarian for further information.