PERSONNEL--Membership in National Scientific, Technical, and Professional Organizations UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER RESOURCES DIVISION Washington 25, D. C. March 11, 1959 Code: 4054 0001 GROUND WATER BRANCH MEMORANDUM NO. 59.47 To: District Chiefs and Staff Officials, Ground Water Branch From: Acting Chief, Ground Water Branch, Washington, D. C. Subject: PERSONNEL--Membership in National Scientific, Technical, and Professional Organizations Your attention is called to Ground Water Branch Memorandum 59.8 of August 7, 1958, Membership in National Scientific, Technical, and Professional Organizations. The importance of membership and participation in such organizations has been stressed by the Bureau as well as the Division, as indicated by the following: 1. The Survey Promotion Plan, which became effective January 1, 1959, states that one factor to be considered in evaluating personnel for promotion is participation in professional activities, such as professional organizations and societies. 2. The Water Resources Division encourages employees to participate in professional activities that are closely related to their official duties, because this aids the development of professional careers, and ultimately benefits the public service. Each professional has an obligation to himself and to the Survey to make use of available media for dissemination of information to the public as well as to be currently informed on achievements in his field of endeavor. In addition to Survey publications, scientific and technical journals offer a wonderful opportunity for fulfilling this obligation. It is felt that a man's willingness to participate in technical societies is a measure of interest in his work and an expression of desire to become better informed in his field. Each supervisor has a responsibility to those men working under him to promote interest in and encourage participation in technical societies. You should take positive steps to assist professionals in selecting material suitable for publication in media such as technical journals, and give proper guidance in the preparation of such articles to insure their completion. As some of the personnel in the field offices may not have sufficient information concerning the various societies to decide which ones would best serve their needs as members, pertinent data are attached on nine national organizations. This list is not all inclusive, as some national and all local societies have been left off the list for brevity. This does not imply that membership in those societies not listed is not equally important. To maintain current information on our professionals' technical societies membership (see Ground Water Branch Memorandum 57.1), each District Supervisor is requested to complete and submit, by April 30, the attached blank form, listing all professional personnel in his office, the organizations to which each man belongs, and the organizations that each man plans to join. Please include local technical and scientific organizations such as State geological societies. The District Supervisor should then inform this office of each man who is subsequently accepted for membership in a society. If sponsors are not available locally, applications should be routed through this office for sponsorship by Washington, D. C. personnel. (s) R. R. Bennett Attachments Distribution: A, B, S3, FO3, SL