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Marine Realms Information Bank, A Web-Distributed Geo-Library for the Ocean
The MRIB (http://mrib.usgs.gov) is a prototype web-based and web-distributed geo-library, which organizes, indexes, and delivers online information from across the USGS Coastal and Marine Program. The significance of MRIB lies both in the utility of the information bank and in the implementation of a new concept in online information management, which is called a Distributed Information Bank (DIB). A DIB provides access to information, but it is not an information repository. It incorporates information objects that exist in remote sources without modifying their formats or content. These information objects are owned, updated, and maintained by scientists on their independent internet servers. The DIB succeeds by building an index consisting of collections of Electronic Index Cards each containing various meta-data about their referenced information object, including its geographical area of study and its network location. The meta-data profiles stored in each Electronic Index Card are built on a controlled vocabulary representing the DIB's classification system. To find the desired information, users will choose among the categories of the classification system, instructing a sorting engine to filter the central index.
The MRIB is a DIB that integrates web information objects from across the USGS Coastal and Marine Program. The current MRIB classification system is based on 11 types of categories (facets): Geologic Time, Location, Discipline, Feature, Issue, Audience, Method, Author, Project, Agency and Class (Data, Knowledge, or Predictions). The MRIB allows the user to build the context in which he or she is viewing information by choosing among these multiple facets. Distributed Information Banks such as the MRIB can be applied widely as unifying portals for extensive or rapidly developing information bases for which a centralized information bank is impractical. In addition, because the classification system of DIBs can be easily modified, their use can expedite the development and testing of suitable classification systems for existing information bases.
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in this issue:
Lake Tahoe: "Wonders of the Universe" Calendar Plymouth County Detention Center
Southwest Washington Coastal Erosion Southeatern U.S. Benthic Habitat Southern California Benthic Habitat 9th International Coral Reef Symposium Director's Office & NOAA Visitors |
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U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
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