Project Work Plan

Study Title: South Florida Information Access (SOFIA) Website
Study Start Date: 1996 Study End Date: 2007
Web Sites: http://sofia.usgs.gov/, http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/ (Data Exchange website), http://sofia.usgs.gov/metadata/ (Metadata website)
Location (Subregions, Counties, Park or Refuge): Total System/All
Funding Source: USGS Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystems Science (GE PES)
Other Complementary Funding Source(s): This project is fully funded by Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystems Science (GE PES).
Principal Investigator(s): Heather Henkel
Study Personnel: Tracy Enright, Kathy Pegram
Supporting Organizations: None
Associated / Linked Studies: SOFIA Database (Sonenshein), SOFIA Metadata (Stapleton), SOFIA IMS/Geospatial Interface (Sonenshein), Development of a Digital Geo/Bio-Library (Sonenshein)

Overview & Objective(s):

The South Florida Information Access (SOFIA) system was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1995. Its mission is to provide easy access to information about research projects and products generated as part of the USGS South Florida Priority Ecosystems Studies (PES) Program and other Federal, state, and local science providers. SOFIA provides this service by integrating information systems and tools enabling efficient storage, organization, and search and retrieval of scientific information about the south Florida ecosystem. SOFIA was designed to benefit three major user groups: USGS program managers and scientists working with the South Florida PES Program, managers and scientists working for other organizations involved with Everglades restoration, and members of the public interested in USGS research and/or the science behind the Everglades restoration effort.

SOFIA is an evolving and dynamic system that builds on the ever-increasing sophistication of new information technology. The current architecture consists of three integrated components: website, data, and metadata. The SOFIA website (http://sofia.usgs.gov/) contains links to project descriptions, proposals, publications, data (through links to our data exchange site), metadata, presentations, and contact information, as well as general interest items, such as photographs and posters. The SOFIA site also is a portal through which you can access our extensive database and internet map server (IMS).

Specific Relevance to Major Unanswered Questions and Information Needs Identified:

The south Florida restoration effort requires multidisciplinary information related to present and historical conditions for use in responsible decision-making. The SOFIA website provides centralized, seamless access to all information produced by the USGS PES program, as well as other related information produced outside of the program.

Status:

In the past year, the SOFIA website has continued to post all relevant south Florida information, including publications, data, metadata, as well as project and personnel information. SOFIA continues to increase the amount of information that is provided on the website. The SOFIA website currently contains over 6300 documents. SOFIA also continues to see an increase in the number of visitors from just under 80 per day in 1998 to over 2000 per day in 2004.

During the April, 2003 Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (GEER) conference, the SOFIA site conducted a usability test to determine how effectively the SOFIA site presented information and to also find out what we could do to improve the site. The site did very well, with 100% stating that they would return to the SOFIA site and 90% stating that the SOFIA team helps them do their job better. In addition to the usability study, the SOFIA website has a short survey that users can take online. Almost all users who have taken the survey are extremely happy with the website, not only with its wealth of information, but the ease with which they are able to access that information.

Recent Products:

In January of 2004, SOFIA started producing “SOFIA News.” SOFIA News is a bimonthly email update of new postings on the SOFIA website. These updates include announcements of new publications and data sets, new and continuing project information, notification of upcoming meetings, as well as other related information. Currently, SOFIA News has 150 subscribers.

The amount of content continued to increase during the past year, including additions to our data exchange site, publications, project pages, and other related content.

Planned Products:

In December of 2004, at the First National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration (NCER), SOFIA will demo an updated publications website which will include a more specialized, searchable interface. This database-driven website will allow users to search our online publications by author, title, date, publication type, and topic. Currently, users can view online publications either through a general search engine or by a static listing by topic or publication type. SOFIA has over 350 publications available online, and by providing this new interface, it will make finding publications easier.

In the next fiscal year, we are planning on a minor website redesign, followed by another usability test. Work will continue on the addition of data, metadata, publications, and all related project information.

WORK PLAN

Title of Task 1: SOFIA Web Portal
Task Funding: USGS Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystems Science (GE PES)
Task Leaders: Heather Henkel
Phone: (727) 803-8747 ext. 3028
FAX: (727) 803-2032
Task Status (proposed or active): active
Task priority: High
Task Personnel: Heather Henkel, Tracy Enright (contractor), Kathy Pegram (contractor)

Task Summary and Objectives:

The task summary is the same as the project summary. Our objectives are to continue to provide a robust, accurate, and accessible website for the south Florida Priority Ecosystems Study (PES) Program.

Work to be undertaken during the proposal year and a description of the methods and procedures:

Work will continue on the creation of new materials for the SOFIA site. This will involve creating new project pages, adding workplans, summary sheets, and publications. We will also continue to add relevant south Florida information, including materials from sources outside of the PES program. In FY05, we will once again post relevant materials for the first National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration (NCER).

Specific Task Product(s):

The new database-driven publications interface is expected to be completed in time for the December 2004 NCER meeting. The site redesign and usability testing is expected to be completed by Spring of 2005.

Updates to the entire site (publications, data, metadata, staff and project information) will continue throughout the year.

Title of Task 2: SOFIA Data Dissemination
Task Funding: USGS Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystems Science (GE PES)
Task Leaders: Heather Henkel
Phone: (727) 803-8747 ext. 3028
FAX: (727) 803-2032
Task Status (proposed or active): active
Task priority: High
Task Personnel: Heather Henkel, Kathy Pegram

Task Summary and Objectives:

In addition to the project and publication information provided on the SOFIA site, we also provide easy access to data and metadata. The data exchange site (http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/) provides direct access to a variety of data sets within the SOFIA program. These data sets are organized by topic and include site maps and methodology information. Access to Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)-compliant metadata is made available through both the SOFIA site (http://sofia.usgs.gov/metadata) and a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) node. Our objectives are to continue to add all available data and metadata to the SOFIA site.

Work to be undertaken during the proposal year and a description of the methods and procedures:

Work will continue with the addition of metadata records in cooperation with Jo Anne Stapleton (SOFIA Metadata project). New and previously created data sets will also be added to the site. We also plan on enhancing the data exchange site to help better organize the information provided.

The SOFIA website has been invited to be part of GeoData.gov, a public gateway for improving access to geospatial information and data under the Geospatial One-Stop e-government initiative. We are currently evaluating GeoData.gov, and expect to join this initiative by the end of 2004. By joining GeoData.gov, we are providing another portal through which users can find data and metadata information on the SOFIA site.

Specific Task Product(s):

We will continue to add new and updated metadata records as well as all available datasets in cooperation with Jo Anne Stapleton and Roy Sonenshein.