The Development and Application of a Historical Bibliography to Assess Landslide Hazard in the United States

Abstract

A project supported by the U. S. Geological Survey was initiated in 1980 to determine the extent and economic significance of landsliding in the United States, and to prepare recommendations to management about the kind of work needed to investigate and mitigate the problem. At the time of this project, no comprehensive bibliography or database had previously been compiled for landslides. A bibliography was initiated in 1981 using commercially available library database services, combined with systematic library study, and reference collections from individual researchers in the United States. About 6,500 landslide references were obtained, including those from other U.S. government agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station. Development of the bibliography essentially ended with information published through 1983, although a few references published in 1984 and 1985 were included. Data on landslides contained in the published and unpublished reports cited in the bibliography have been used primarily for reconnaissance-level research, although they remain a useful tool for further studies. For example, many of the published and unpublished reports gathered for the bibliography were used by Brabb et al. (1999) to prepare a map to show where debris flows have been observed or mapped in the United States and help identify where they may occur in the future. The bibliography is still the largest compilation on landslides for all states, territories and possessions of the United States.