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Czech Geological Survey - Geofond is the national centre for geoscience documentation and information. Systematic storage and update of information concerning geological conditions and groundwater resources in the territory of the Czech Republic are performed under the current legislatition. That also includes maintenance of a specialized public archive containing reports on geological exploration projects and geological documentation. The principal trend is the implementation of techniques providing the storage of documents in a safe and durable digital form. The accepted solution is the creation of a digital archive of scanned geological reports and assessments and its integration within the geoinformation system. This approach also allows a more effective access to full information contained in the documents.
The Digital Archive project has been in operation since 2004. Within this project, a new scanning department was established to meet the present organisational, technological and programming needs. A new database model of the documentographic subsystem was also made, and new applications for data conversion, maintenance as well as for data presentation were created. In addition, a new project concerning the digitisation of reports available on microfilms and their incorporation in the Digital Archive was started in 2005, aiming at the processing of black-and-white microfilms. Consequently, the digitisation of reports from microfilms was suprisingly efficient because the material was of higher quality and more comprehensive than the same archive reports in printed form. Scanning of available microfilms was completed in 2007. As of 31 December 2007, the volume of the Digital Archive in its primary format was about 6 TB, representing about 12 % of the total content of the archive.
The principal trend in data providing and in information services involves the ability of the users to find required information on the Internet. To meet the increasing demand for this service, the Internet on-line service was installed by the Geofond. This service offers large datasets. Basic level of data and metadata is available free of charge for public use; detailed data are available as a pre-paid service for authorised users. The testing period of this service will indicate whether the full content of the Digital Archive should be accessible to the public, or whether should it be charged for. Further development of the digital archive is supported by the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic.
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