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