Preserving Scientific Data on Our Physical Universe A New Strategy for Archiving the Nation's Scientific Information Resources (1995) / Chapter Skim
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5 A New Strategy for Archiving the Nation's Scientific and Technical data
5 A New Strategy for Archiving the Nation's Scientific and Technical data
Pages 49-61
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From page 49... ...
The second major element outlines the committee's proposal to form a National Scientific Information Resource Federation, which would provide a coordination mechanism for end-to-end management of networked scientific and technical data facilities. The final sections highlight some specific recommendations for NARA and NOAA in their long-term retention of scientific and technical data.
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From page 50... ...
This principle is recognized in the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-130 on the "Management of Federal Information Resources" (OMB, 1994~. The scientific information management spectrum spans data collected from a sensor to the scholarly publications that report scientists' interprerations of the data.
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From page 51... ...
sciences and the data acquired with that investment. In the discussion that follows, the committee reviews the basic elements of a federated management structure, describes some notable examples of existing federal government organizations for large-scale distributed data management, and outlines the most important aspects of the proposed National Scientific Information Resource Federation.
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From page 52... ...
These are the Interagency Working Group on Data Management for Global Change and the Federal Geographic Data Committee. Interagency Working Group on Data Managementfor Global Change In 1990, Congress formally established the U.S.
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From page 53... ...
The FGDC plans for data archiving are still being developed, however. Creation of the National Scientific Information Resource Federation The two examples cited above indicate that a federated management structure for highly distributed scientific data can be created.
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From page 54... ...
From a policy perspective, it would be consistent with the goal of the National Information Infrastructure to distribute information resources broadly throughout our society, with the federal government acting as facilitator for such activities. The technology is available to make a fully networked, but highly distributed, system of data centers and archives both feasible and desirable.
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From page 55... ...
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE CREATION OF THE NSIR FEDERATION The committee thus recommends that the federal government take the following steps for adequately preserving and providing access to data about our physical universe: Adopt the National Scientific Information Resource (NSIR) Federation concept as an integral part of the National Information Infrastructure (NII)
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From page 56... ...
In addition, NARA should consider concluding interagency agreements to give formal recognition of this process as appropriate. Furthermore, the associated agencies in the NSIR Federation must work together, under the lead of a small, coordinating executive office with the expertise to establish data management guidelines and minimum criteria for adequate metadata that could be applied across the entire Federation.
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From page 57... ...
The holding agencies should collect, analyze, store, and make available the maximum feasible amount of relevant physical science data, consistent with the principles and goals set forth for the NSIR Federation and with the retention criteria and appraisal guidelines discussed above. Currently, agencies inform NARA of their intentions for their federal records including scientific it ~ , , _ , , _ .
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From page 58... ...
Nevertheless, NARA will continue to be faced with difficult issues involving the archiving of scientific data. In the interim, the committee suggests that NARA should arrange for temporary staff assignments from the active scientific ranks of the federal government on a frequent as-needed basis.
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From page 59... ...
Development of a new comprehensive directory covering all NOAA's holdings of geoscience data would set the standard for other agencies and would make the data much more accessible to the public. This directory may incorporate capabilities of the many different on-line directory services currently in use at the National Data Centers, but the emphasis should be on connectivity, data access, and information.
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From page 60... ...
This interconnected NOAA directory service also would assist the NOAA data centers in their management of data. By having access to tools and techniques developed at other NOAA data centers and elsewhere in the data storage community, the NOAA data centers would be better able to stay abreast of new developments and to incorporate them into their data access systems.
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From page 61... ...
Finally, NOAA, as well as every other federal science agency, should ensure that all its data are shared and readily available; it fulfills its responsibility for quality control, metadata structures, documentation, and creation of data products; it participates in electronic networks that enable access, sharing, and transfer of data; and it expressly incorporates the long-term view in planning and carrying out its data management responsibilities. The creation of the committee's proposed NSIR Federation would help provide a collaborative mechanism and more sustained peer pressure to meet these objectives, and thus enhance the value of scientific and technical data and information resources to the nation.
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