Information management is both a strategy, driven by customer needs, and an infrastructure, shaped by technology, for handling and distributing information.
Information management crosses disciplinary and administrative boundaries.
USGS information management activities organize, catalog, archive, maintain, and disseminate earth and biological science data and information so that all potential users are aware of and can acquire the information. The USGS distributes a variety of high quality earth and biological science information in the form of data bases, maps, and scientific and general interest publications. Properly managed information can be combined and interpreted for new understandings of earth and biological processes, and has multiple uses across disciplines in Government, the private sector, and the general public. The new National Atlas of the United States is an ambitious, Government-wide partnership led by the USGS that aims to make geographic information more readily accessible to individual Americans. The National Atlas is designed to promote greater geographic awareness through the development and delivery of products that provide easy to use, map-like views of our natural and societal landscapes.