The Small Isolated Gas Rich Irregular Dwarf (SIGRID) Galaxy Sample:
  Description and First Results
  Using an optically-unbiased selection process based on the HIPASS neutral
hydrogen survey, we have selected a sample of 83 spatially isolated, gas-rich
dwarf galaxies in the southern hemisphere with cz between 350 and 1650 km s-1,
and with R-band luminosities and HI masses less than that of the Small
Magellanic Cloud. The sample is an important population of dwarf galaxies in
the local Universe, all with ongoing star formation, and most of which have no
existing spectroscopic data. We are measuring the chemical abundances of these
galaxies, using the Integral Field Spectrograph on the ANU 2.3m telescope, the
Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS). This paper describes our survey criteria and
procedures, lists the survey sample, and reports on initial observations.
