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C Examples of Successful International Data Exchange Activities in the Natural Sciences
Pages 205-219

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From page 205...
... LABORATORY PHYSICAL SCIENCES DATA Nuclear Structure Data The Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) , a mature database that has existed in electronic form for about 25 years, consists of evaluations of nuclear structure and decay data.
From page 206...
... One subset of ENSDF, the nuclear database NUDAT, is a true relational database that can be accessed on-line. Traditionally, the evaluations of nuclear structure data were disseminated via a monthly hard-copy journal.
From page 207...
... Data at CDF are sorted into various data streams based on the physics: electroweak physics, top quark events, b quark events, events that test quantum chromodynamics, exotica, and so on. As of the end of 1995 the grand ensemble of data from CDF was about 108 events at 200 kilobytes per event, or 20 terabytes.
From page 208...
... Consequently, since at least the early 1970s a hard-copy preprint distribution system has supplanted conventional published journals as conveyers of topical information. With the advent of standardized word processors in the mid 1980s, together with widespread networking connectivity by the late 1980s, researchers regarded electronic transmission of prepublication information as a natural next step.
From page 209...
... Structure Reports, a printed crystallographic compendium that is edited at a Canadian university, published in the Netherlands, and has contributors from all over the world; · Science Group Thermodata Europe, a consortium of eight different laboratories from four European countries that compiles and analyzes thermodynamic data; · The Alloy Phase Diagram International Commission, whose members from 12 countries collaborate in the compilation and evaluation of phase diagrams of metallic systems; · The collection of diffusion data from the world literature that are abstracted, recompiled, and published in Switzerland and;
From page 210...
... The software used by STN is particularly adept at handling numeric data inquiries and is quite sophisticated in readily accommodating range searching, conversion of units, and handling of many data variables.6 STN International is accessed via commercial on-line communication services. Searchers are charged only a modest fee for the time connected, with most of the charge based on the type and amount of data utilized in terms of the number of records involved.
From page 211...
... Some databases, particularly the older ones, such as the Beilstein Institute's compendium of all known organic substances and its counterpart for inorganic and organometallic compounds from the Gmelin Institute, focus on the substances themselves.~° Others, such as the database on atomic energy levels from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, catalog generic properties of a limited class of species, in this case all the atomic species for which data are available. The Cambridge structural database, originally created at the University of Cambridge and now maintained by the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, an independent organization created for the purpose, is a comprehensive file of evaluated data of crystalline materials and supporting references of much interest to materials scientists and chemists.
From page 212...
... The coordination of this database effort, the definition of standards, and planning for the future are being done by database staff and advisory committees. Currently, the international database collection contains about 500 million nucleic acid bases (the individual chemical compounds that link to make up nucleic acid (DNA or RNA)
From page 213...
... The most important technical barrier involves equipment and infrastructure limitations on potential end users' capability to access and then make use of the wealth of information available. These data and their free availability to researchers in the life sciences are contributing to the rapid development of new concepts and applications, and there is a great desire and consequent pressure by academic and industrial institutions to keep the data freely accessible internationally in the future.
From page 214...
... GEOPHYSICAL DATA The World Data Centers In the Earth sciences, with the impetus of the International Geophysical Year in 1957, the World Data Centers (WDCs) were set up under the aegis of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU)
From page 215...
... Data Center, which houses the newly established WDC for land remote sensing, where a subset of remote sensing data is made available, and the Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, which also serves as a WDC for trace gases in the atmosphere.~7 Although the WDCs provide one very effective avenue for the transnational flow of geophysical data, many important observational data sets are not available through the WDCs and must be obtained through other means, some of which are discussed below. Seismic Data Many thousands of seismic events occur throughout the world each year, some large and destructive.
From page 216...
... For the last several decades, data have been processed and archived on a global basis through a system of world and regional meteorological centers and world and regional data centers for meteorology and oceanography. During this period the World Weather Watch has developed many of the characteristics required for an effective system for international exchanges of scientific data and therefore can be considered one of the primary models for other such systems.
From page 217...
... The archival, storage, and retrieval systems for retrospective use of the data are maintained by the World Data Centers, and, by virtue of recent expansion, the Regional Data Centers. WMO does not operate any observing stations, telecommunication systems, or processing centers; through its member nations WMO is responsible only for the planning and coordination of the World Weather Watch.
From page 218...
... A joint mechanism was established within which the ICSU scientists led the planning of major observational field experiments and WMO led the implementation through national contributions of member nations. The largest and most complex was a global observational experiment during which the World Weather Watch Global Observation System was augmented with additional observations from ships, aircraft, and satellites to provide the most comprehensive set of global observations ever acquired.
From page 219...
... Technol., 94:9-14, emphasizes the importance, in an industrial setting, of computer access to numeric databases in materials science. Functioning almost entirely without external financial support and on a volunteer basis, this CODATA task group coordinates work in this field, promotes standards, communication, and awareness; assists in education and training; and publishes an international register of materials database managers.


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