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The following are excerpts from the International Oceanographic Data and Information Excahnge (IDOE)
http://www.iode.org's General Infomation pages about Data Management and Info Management.
| Marine Data Management: we can do more, but can we do better? |
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The planning and implementation of research, and the efficient
management of the resulting data often appear to be two widely
separated worlds. Data managers consider the careful collection,
management and dissemination of research data as essential for the
effective use of research funds. Many researchers, on the other hand,
consider data management as technical, boring and an (un)necessary
evil; so data management is often insufficiently planned, or not
planned for at all, and is assigned a low priority. This is
unfortunate, as there is much of social relevance and applicability
in the colourful world of oceanographic data management.
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| Marine data management: a working definition |
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First, we need to distinguish 'data' from
'information'. 'Data' are
observable, raw 'values' that result from
research or monitoring activities; these values can be numerical (as
in temperature or salinity measurements) or nominal (as in species
lists for a particular region). The term
'information' is commonly used to mean data
that have already been processed and/or interpreted results. In that
sense, so-called 'metadata', i.e. data about
data (e.g. by whom, at what time, where and how the results were
collected) can be considered a special kind of
'information'.
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| Tackling a growing problem |
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The social relevance of measurement and sampling at sea, and the
need to disseminate the results as widely and in as user-friendly a
manner as possible, cannot be overestimated. More services and
products useful to industry, the general public and policy makers,
could, and should, be extracted from databases. The oceans cover
two-thirds of the Earth, and about half the world population live
in coastal areas, so monitoring the health, resources and
'tantrums' of the global ocean is no luxury.
There are many applications of data-management that relate to climate
and weather, safety at sea and along the coast, fisheries, offshore
activities, management of the seas, etc.
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| Data centres in evolution |
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Changes in technology and changes in society are both forcing data
centres to rethink their role and modus operandi. Another trend is
the increased interest in biodiversity and the need to set up
management and monitoring programmes to study marine (and other)
biodiversity. Human-induced world-wide changes, such as global
warming, will no doubt affect our living resources; one of the
challenges of the new data centres is to integrate biological and
physicochemical data and make both data types available for combined
analysis. These and other developments were discussed at the
'Colour of Ocean Data' Symposium, held in
Brussels in 2002. The last part of the symposium was dedicated to a
panel discussion, in which the changing role of data centres was
discussed. What follows is a brief overview of the most important
trends and issues that were identified.
There is a trend away from the traditional data centre, with its
main task of archiving datasets, towards becoming more
service-orientated. Data centres can look towards libraries for
inspiration to redefine their role; libraries provide expertise and
guidance in cataloguing. Archives are grey and dusty, libraries are
active and open; data centres should strive to resemble the latter
rather than the former. Data management needs an equivalent to
the 'Web of Science': a mechanism to bring up
a list of relevant, available, quality controlled and peer-reviewed
datasets.
Any mechanism for finding data - i.e. 'data
discovery' - is meaningless (and very frustrating!) if it
is not linked to a system for data distribution, through which the
scientist or interested layperson can access actual data. Setting
up both data discovery and data distribution mechanisms is made
possible by recent developments in internet and database technology.
Some traditional roles of data centres remain important: long-term
stewardship of data, integrating datasets, documenting and
redistributing datasets, development of standards and standard
operational procedures, etc... Datasets often result from
particular projects, which usually have a limited time-span.
Short-term data management, within the time span of the project,
is usually not a problem: scientists need data management to produce
useful results; moreover, making provisions for data management
is often a prerequisite for getting a proposal accepted in the
first place. After the project ends, however, there is a danger
that detailed knowledge about the collected data can disappear,
together with project staff. It is the mandate of data centres to
work together with project staff, to ensure that data are properly
documented, and that the integrity of the data themselves are
safeguarded after completion of the project.
Meta-databases and other methods of data discovery will certainly
gain more and more importance as the number of studies, and the
number of scientists conducting these studies, increases. Such
methods of data discovery, and better communication between and
among scientists and data managers, are essential for avoiding
unnecessary duplication of effort.
There is a need to create data and information products, not only
for other data managers and scientists, but also for policy makers
and society at large. These products will assist in increasing
the visibility of data centres and demonstrate the usefulness
of data management to a larger audience. As such, it may assist
in attracting funds for further activities as well as data
submissions from scientists.
Unfortunately, marine scientists are generally very poorly informed
about data centres and about data and information management
procedures. There is a need to investigate how to put data and
information management on the curriculum of academic institutions.
This would result in a greater awareness of data centres, and an
increased quantity and quality of data submissions. Data managers
should actively seek collaboration with scientists. Involvement of
data managers in the planning of projects at a very early stage,
and more input in the development of data collection makes
'Beginning-to-end data management' a reality.
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| The future |
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Managers of marine data are facing major challenges. First, there
is the incredible increase in the volume of data, especially in the
area of remote sensing. Second, there is the great diversity in the
types of data that have to be handled: physicochemical, geological,
meteorological and biological data, all have to be integrated, and
analyses and information products have to draw on all of them.
Last but not least, there is a major discrepancy between the scale
at which data are typically gathered, and the scale at which the
data and information are needed. With very few exceptions, projects
collect data and information on local scales, and over short
time-spans. Humanity has brought on itself problems such as
global warming and consequent sea-level rise, depletion of
fish stocks, and pollution, which have generated a need for data
and information on a global scale; integration of all available
local datasets is the only way to create a data- and information
base to support global decision-making.
Modern data management is inseparable from information technology.
Recent developments in technology assist in coping with both the
diversity and volume of data flows. The internet provides means to
exchange data at no - or very low - cost.
Electronic publishing is more and more the method of choice for
communicating research results and other information. Database
systems are becoming more sophisticated, allowing scientists and
data managers to concentrate on subject matter rather than technical
nitty-gritty. Computer systems are becoming faster, hard disk
and other storage space is becoming cheaper, and information
technology is making it possible to conduct data management,
and devise information products, that could only be dreamed of
just a couple of years ago.
The main challenge for data managers is now to remain in control
of developments, and not to let marine data management become
technology-driven. Obviously, recent technical developments should
be monitored, and put to good use whenever and wherever relevant.
But it is more important to continuously re-evaluate what the
role of the data centres should be, rather than how objectives
are being realized. The real issues for data management are
standardization, collaboration and enabling knowledge-based
decision-making. Obviously, we can do 'more'.
But can we also do 'better'?
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| Marine Information Management: helping to understand and protect
the marine environment |
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On our blue planet, the dominant feature is ocean. It contains 97
percent of the Earth's water and releases vapor into the atmosphere
that returns as rain, sleet, and snow, ever replenishing the planet
with freshwater. All life, including our own, is dependent on the
ocean. Understanding the ocean is integral to comprehending this
planet on which we live. Understanding the ocean is more than a
matter of curiosity. Exploration, inquiry and study are required
to better understand ocean systems and processes.
Marine Science Libraries hold an important role in promoting
information about the marine environment: information provision to
the policy makers - educating the next generation of environmental
stewards; attracting a future environmentally concerned workforce
and generating an ocean literate public that understands the value
of the ocean and can make appropriate decisions to protect it.
On an International scale, networks of Marine Information Management
(MIM) Centers, collaborating to produce products and services,
strengthen our global understanding of ocean processes and
conditions. Marine Information Management is a vital process in
this knowledge cycle.
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| Our Users and Partners |
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The users of Marine Information include research scientists, policy
makers, students at all levels, educators, industry and businesses.
Marine Information Management Centers interact with Marine Data
managers to deliver information products, e.g. Data that has been
processed and interpreted. We may repackage the data in the form
of electronic citation databases, internet bibliographies, regional
repositories of stored and accessible scientific research, online
catalogs of specialized collections, or digitized collections of
difficult to find scientific studies. We establish national and
international standards to disseminate this information, and we
form groups of networked individuals and professional societies to
collaborate on new products, on training courses and technology
for the delivery of marine and atmospheric information.
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