British Geological Survey Pre-2000 Analytical Chemistry Archive

Pre-2000 records from the British Geological Survey's analytical chemistry laboratories contain archived card indexes, files, and raw analytical data. The collection includes samples analyzed for internal BGS customers from locations worldwide, with data quality and format varying by historical analytical technique and recording system.

Use Cases

• Extract geochemical signatures from raw analytical data to study historical sample compositions
• Analyze trends in analytical techniques used over time within the archived card indexes and files
• Trace sample provenance and background detail from variable file coverage for historical research

Strengths

• Archival records span many years of laboratory operations prior to 2000
• Collection includes multiple data types: card indexes, files, and raw analytical data
• Samples have global geographical coverage from BGS internal projects

Limitations

• Data quality is variable due to evolving analytical systems and techniques over time
• Coverage and background detail on samples are inconsistent across files
• Records are in paper format requiring manual viewing or copying

Provenance

Source

British Geological Survey (BGS)

Collection Method

Archive of original paper records from BGS analytical chemistry laboratories

Time Range

Prior to the year 2000

Freshness

null

Geography

Global (samples could be from anywhere in the world)