Please note AESIS is no longer updated. AESIS will remain available on Informit as an archive database.

Recognised as Australia’s National Geoscience, Minerals and Petroleum Reference Database, AESIS was developed by the Australian Mineral Foundation (AMF) in cooperation with Geoscience Australia (formerly Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics (BMR) and later Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO)), CSIRO, State Departments of Mines and Geological Surveys, the National Library of Australia, the Australian Geoscience Information Association, and many companies. AESIS was coordinated by the Australian Mineral Foundation until the AMF closed at the end of 2001.

At that time, AESIS was the world's largest reference database covering both published and unpublished Australian geoscience, minerals and petroleum literature.

In 2003 AESIS was acquired by the South Australian Branch of the Australian Geoscience Information Association which now holds copyright to the database.

Coverage
AESIS covered Australian-generated published and unpublished documented materials over the full range of the geosciences, minerals and petroleum and related areas. From 1979 AESIS also covered material published on continental Australia by non-Australian sources. AESIS commenced in 1976, but coverage goes back to 1975 and much earlier, especially for open-file reports and theses. Retrospective coverage for published material was also undertaken through special projects for the GSA, ASEG, AusIMM, Geoscience Australia and the various Australian Royal Societies. With approximately 200,000 references AESIS continues to be a valuable source to over 30 years contribution to geoscience literature by Australian authors.

Source documents
Material reviewed for inclusion in AESIS was taken from many sources including over 600 journal titles, monographs in series, books, conference papers and proceedings, technical reports, maps, theses, and unpublished and open-file reports predominantly from the State Geological Surveys and Department of Mines and Geoscience Australia.