Bits of Power Issues in Global Access to Scientific Data (1997) / Chapter Skim
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3 Scientific Issues in the International Exchange of Data in the Natural Sciences
3 Scientific Issues in the International Exchange of Data in the Natural Sciences
Pages 47-109
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From page 47... ...
At this stage, also, researchers begin to consider the implications of the new data, both to strengthen and extend basic understanding in the natural sciences and to seek applications that may bring benefits to 47
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From page 48... ...
Now, however, interests outside the scientific community are exerting forces on that environment that could severely restrict this open exchange. Scientists believe that restrictions on data access will slow the progress of science and significantly diminish the potential benefits that science renders to society.
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From page 49... ...
In this chapter the committee broadly characterizes types of scientific data and their use in the laboratory physical sciences, astronomy and space sciences, Earth sciences, and biological sciences; outlines some of the major data trends, opportunities, and challenges in the natural sciences; discusses selected discipline-specific issues; and describes problems of access to data in less developed countries. The chapter concludes with the committee' s recommendations for steps to improve access to data in the natural sciences worldwide.
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From page 50... ...
In fact, just the opposite is usually the case for observational data, because it is only with the original unprocessed data that it will be possible to recreate all other levels of processed data and data products. To do so, however, requires preservation of the necessary information about the processing steps and ancillary data.
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From page 51... ...
Examples of successful international data exchange activities in each of these areas are given in Appendix C Laboratory Physical Sciences The laboratory physical sciences comprise an interrelated set of disciplines that includes chemistry, materials science, physics, and the subdisciplines and applications of each of these.
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From page 52... ...
Projects to evaluate data on particular topics, such as the thermodynamic or spectroscopic properties of a set of closely related substances, typically involve small international collaborations that communicate by Internet. More complex efforts, such as determining the "best" values of natural constants, require more formal cooperative working arrangements and regular data exchange.
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From page 53... ...
Hence it is important to store space science data in a form readily available to other researchers. Most astronomical data archives, which are open to all scientists, do so.
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From page 54... ...
Earth Sciences In the broadest terms, Earth science data are fundamental to the discovery and creation of knowledge concerning the interactions among matter, energy, and living organisms.7 Development of this knowledge is essential for ensuring the prospect for humanity on our finite planet in the face of rapid demographic and economic growth. Between 1820 and 1992, the world population increased 5 times and the gross domestic product per person grew 8 times, with a resulting global economy growth rate of 40 times.
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From page 55... ...
To understand them requires observations with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution and coverage to characterize the phenomena of interest and to constrain theoretical predictions that are based on conceptual or quantitative models. Therefore, the lifeblood of research in most of the Earth sciences is observational data, sometimes global in coverage, and taken repeatedly over time.
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From page 56... ...
Proprietary concerns probably arise at least as frequently in the biological sciences as in the laboratory physical sciences or the Earth sciences, but much more frequently than in the space sciences. A somewhat unique characteristic of many biological data, especially regarding distributions of species, is that they are very location-specific.
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From page 57... ...
For example, in the Earth sciences, new technology allows data to be collected repetitively with high spatial resolution. Remote sensing systems are generating immense volumes of data that are pushing the limits of our ability to store, retrieve, and analyze those data.
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From page 58... ...
Table 3.3 provides a representative sample of astrophysics data archived by NASA and demonstrates a similar trend in the space sciences. Technology for data storage and computation continues to improve at a rate consistent with the capability to handle the rapid growth of accumulated data in the observational sciences.
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From page 59... ...
These "megaprojects" or "megascience" programs have a number of common characteristics. They require long-term funding commitments; they may necessitate the building of new large facilities or instruments, which then require large expenditures for operating funds; they typically involve teams of researchers working on different aspects of the project, with the consequent requirement for international communication and data exchange; and, with the current state of technology, their scientific objectives cannot be fulfilled by using a smaller-scale research format.l3 In 1991 the U.S.
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From page 61... ...
In the laboratory sciences, funding agencies focus their support on research and tend to overlook the fact that data compilations and data access are key to progress across the research spectrum. Furthermore, the sheer volume of data now available makes it increasingly difficult for individual compilers in the tradition of Ptolemy and Beilstein to fill this need as a pro bono activity, or for the work to be done as merely ancillary to some funded research program.
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From page 62... ...
, while the volume of their combined data holdings was about 230 terabytes! During this same period, the overall NOAA budget increased from $827.5 million to $1.86 billion, mostly to fund the acquisition of new observational data.
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From page 63... ...
Such centers can achieve significant economies of scale, reducing overall costs while enhancing the effectiveness of certain functions for the benefit of all. The National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC)
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From page 64... ...
Electronic Publication The development and acceptance of electronic networks as a means of communicating, searching for data and information, and accessing information rapidly and directly have driven the increase in electronic publications of all types, and scientific publications in particular.20 Although not all publishers of scientific journals are moving to completely electronic form, there is a distinct trend to provide alternative paper and electronic versions of many publications. For example, the American Institute of Physics is working to provide its library clients by early 1997 with electronic access to every one of its journals to which the library subscribes.
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From page 65... ...
Clicking on a graph will give the reader access to the data on which it is based, allowing alternative models and interpretations to be explored. A related important benefit of electronic publications is that results based on observations and modeling can be checked and validated by both reviewers and readers; restrictions on article length in paper journals and limited access to original data and software currently preclude any meaningful checks of the validity of published results based on observational data.
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From page 67... ...
SCIENTIFIC ISSUES 67 need to simulate reactive hydrodynamic flows. Such problems still help drive the development of increasingly powerful computers.
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From page 68... ...
However, images require more storage space, and the user must have considerably larger bandwidth capabilities to allow electronic transmission of the animations than typically are required for exchange of numerical or symbolic data. DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC DATA ISSUES Over the past two decades, the National Research Council and other groups have issued numerous reports that have addressed scientific management issues for digital observational data in the Earth and space sciences.28 More recently, several studies have examined such issues in the biological sciences.29 Most of these reports have focused quite narrowly on the data management problems of specific disciplines or agencies; however, many of their recommendations have broader validity and may be applied to other disciplines and institutions in the observational sciences in the international context.
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From page 69... ...
Included in this set are the Global Climate Observing System (which includes the World Weather Watch and the Global Atmospheric Watch) , the Global Ocean Observing System, and the Global Terrestrial Observing System.3i These internationally coordinated efforts will integrate observations from multiple satellites and airborne and in situ sensors deployed worldwide.
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From page 70... ...
In the biological environmental sciences, monitoring systems are much less fully developed than in the Earth sciences. Carefully planned and coordinated global monitoring systems for new and emerging diseases and ecological monitoring and biodiversity surveys are needed.
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From page 71... ...
In recent years, some organizations, such as the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have devoted significant efforts to producing high quality global Earth science data sets whose accuracy and reliability have been determined, accompanied by the descriptive (metadata)
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From page 72... ...
In the Earth sciences, the study of Earth processes involves time-dependent behavior over time scales ranging from seconds to millions of years. For relatively short time scales (years or less)
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From page 73... ...
The worldwide cooperation in establishing DNA and RNA genetic sequence databanks pointed out in Appendix C demonstrates what can be done. The world's information science community, together with the world's biologists, now have the combined skills and much of the infrastructure to preserve and to make basic biological information resources broadly available.35 The scientific base and technology exist to produce much needed information structures that are the biological equivalent of the global weather
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From page 74... ...
If this view becomes widely accepted by national and international organizations and governmental bodies, the traditional practices of allowing older data to become increasingly inaccessible or destroying them will be supplanted by policies and procedures to preserve retrospective data in accessible and usable forms. It should be noted that the data volumes of all previously collected data in a given area of the observational sciences typically are modest or insignificant in comparison with the volumes that the current data collection systems produce; if there were a policy of preserving older data indefinitely into the future, all prior data would be transferred to new storage media in compatible formats as new storage and retrieval technology is adopted.
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From page 75... ...
A particularly challenging problem is accessing and merging relatively sparse, lower-resolution, retrospective observations with the higher-resolution current observational data to document changes occurring in the environment. A recent NRC report, Finding the Forest in the Trees: The Challenge of Combining Diverse Environmental Data, provided possible solutions for integrating multiple environmental data sets at different spatial and temporal scales.
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From page 76... ...
The primary researchers who collect the data often do not make the effort to include the documentation that secondary users need. These secondary users,40 who frequently are less knowledgeable or technically sophisticated, must have sufficient information about the data (i.e., metadata)
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From page 77... ...
by guides, containing information about their quality and other characteristics; and (3) by inventories, specifying the individual items that are present.42 Declassification of Environmental Data at the End of the Cold War Observational data collected for military or espionage purposes are necessarily kept secret for some prescribed period of time, at least until the documented events, or the inherent evidence of the data collection techniques and technological capabilities themselves, can no longer compromise national security.
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From page 78... ...
Now there is access to large amounts of these data by scientists outside the former Soviet Union. Other types of Soviet Earth science data, such as gravity and magnetics observations and Arctic oceanographic observations, also have been made available to the scientific community.
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From page 79... ...
Unfortunately, the international exchange of data between research groups, government agencies, and scientific data centers, including the World Data Centers, is rapidly becoming more complicated, just at a time when full and open exchange is most needed to make progress on major global environmental problems. A growing number of government data centers outside the United States
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From page 81... ...
The committee thus recommends that internationally, in both intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, the full and open exchange of scientific data from publicly funded research be adopted as a fundamental principle.
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From page 82... ...
82 BITS OF POWER The committee believes that such an agreement would significantly improve the ability of researchers to develop an adequate scientific understanding of our natural environment and the human condition, to address major problems facing the world community, and to broaden and enrich the knowledge base of all humanity. Given that scientific data in all the disciplines not just the observational
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From page 83... ...
These data exchange networks, building on the successful models presented in Appendix C, would connect peer institutions for mutually beneficial rewards and collaborations, and provide data access to the research and education communities. The committee recommends the continued evolution of the existing distributed network of data centers as part of the global information infrastructure, with coordinated standards and procedures to provide unrestricted access at zero or low costs to data required for the study of regional and global problems.48 This "network of networks" would provide connectivity to multiple data archives internationally and would serve as a coordinated source for important scientific data and information.
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From page 84... ...
For example, the lack of consistent classification schemes for land-cover vegetation and soils hampers international data exchange and can lead to errors of interpretation, especially by non-expert users. Current approaches to classifying land cover include the physiognomic, floristic, and ecosystematic approaches.
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From page 85... ...
The need for improved standardization of terminology, however, is not confined to biological or soil science databases. In any field, use of standardized terminology in a computerized database is vital in structuring the database, in digitizing data captured from printed sources, in accessing the database, and in interchange of data.
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From page 88... ...
This should be an ICSU function, coordinated by CODATA, because there is no other established international source of such standard setting in the biological sciences. Data Compatibility in the Laboratory Physical Sciences The barriers to the international exchange of scientific data in the laboratory sciences generally are not as complex as those in the observational sciences, partly because of the difference in the volumes of data accumulated and used in day-to-day research and partly because of the ways in which the disciplines have evolved.
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From page 89... ...
Converting databases created in hard copy to electronic format can be a costly enterprise, but is nevertheless far cheaper than erecting library buildings. Considerable care is needed to ensure that the original data are not compromised in the process of generating the electronic version.54 In recent years, most data transferred automatically from paper to computer have been captured and stored as images of the printed pages.
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From page 90... ...
Within the United States, the Office of Science and Technology Policy should develop an overall policy for the long-term retention of scientific data, including a contingency plan for protecting those data that may become threatened with the loss of their institutional home.56 ACCESS TO SCIENTIFIC DATA IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES The international exchange of scientific data has a scope beyond that of the large scientific communities in the technically and economically developed parts of the world. While much of this report reflects the research atmosphere in which its contributors work, it is especially important to address aspects of the subject associated with disparities of wealth and resources among nations, the cultural differences with which nations address their societal problems, and the varying ways nations assign their priorities.
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From page 91... ...
The committee then examines the ability of scientists in developed countries to obtain useful data based on work in developing countries. Constraints on Data Access Within Developing Countries Basic to any consideration of constraints on access to data is the economic situation in developing nations.
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From page 92... ...
The committee therefore recommends that until affordable and ubiquitous electronic network services are available, national and international scientific societies and foreign aid agencies should establish or improve their existing efforts to send extra stocks of scientific publications to libraries and research institutions in developing countries that need them. Training and Education Considerations The governments of most countries recognize that education, particularly higher education, is vital for the creation of a solid national base for scientific endeavors and economic growth.
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From page 93... ...
, provides foreign assistance for activities of scientists and engineers in less developed nations.6i Other federal agencies such as NASA and the Department of Agriculture assist scientists by providing data resources and data management services.62 Finally, the Department of State, through its Bureau on Oceans, Environment, and Science, indirectly provides assistance through negotiating and monitoring environmental agreements and conventions that have significant cooperative research and data exchange provisions.63 · Intergovernmental organizations. Many intergovernmental organizations provide assistance to scientists and researchers in developing countries by providing data and information, training and education, and assistance with information technology.
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From page 94... ...
In addition to providing "global and regional network development, science data management, decision support, and training, education, and technical consultation services," CIESIN is the World Data Center A for Human Interactions with the Environment.7i Many national and international not-for-profit organizations also assist scientists in developing countries via different mechanisms. The Sabre Foundation's Scientific Assistance Project provides educational materials in the form of books and journal subscriptions and an Internet-based technical assistance program to institutions and individuals in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.72 The International Science Foundation was established by George Soros in 1992 to assist scientists in the former Soviet Union and the Baltic States by promoting contacts with the international scientific community, providing access to scientific data and information, and establishing international communications links.73 The International Research and Exchange (IREX)
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From page 96... ...
This assistance is usually indirect, through the financial support of international NGOs such as the Third World Academy of Sciences and ICSU. Many of the problems cited above in this section are exacerbated by a lack of effective organizational structures or institutional mechanisms for involving scientists within developing countries in the decision-making process regarding scientific research, much less data access issues.
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From page 97... ...
For example, in the Earth and environmental sciences, particularly in global change research, it is essential to integrate remote sensing data with "ground truth" in situ observational data in the creation of consistent and valid data sets. Without this integration, the value of the data products and research results can be undermined considerably.
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From page 98... ...
However, greater emphasis on understanding such diseases would follow from enhancement of the infrastructure for expertise in biology and biotechnology in developing nations. Developed countries' promotion of such advances would not be purely altruistic.
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From page 99... ...
With regard to in situ data collection efforts in developing countries, the committee recommends the following actions: the ICSU, together with funding agencies and nongovernmental bodies, should strengthen its efforts to assist developing countries in undertaking their own scientific studies and encourage scientists engaged in such studies to take active roles in the international scientific community, where their efforts can be appreciated and used. Legal and procedural protocols must be developed to provide for fair and equitable sharing of any resulting intellectual property.
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1. Governmental science agencies and intergovernmental organizations
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From page 101... ...
, together with the scientific Specialized Agencies of the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Megascience Forum, and the national science agencies and professional societies of member countries, should consider developing a distributed international network of data centers. Such a network should draw on the strengths of successful examples of international data exchange activities as described in Appendix C of this report, including, in particular, the ICSU World Data Centers, and become a prominent part of the global information infrastructure that has been proposed by the "Group of Seven" nations.
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From page 102... ...
d. The ICSU, together with funding agencies and nongovernmental bodies, should strengthen its efforts to assist developing countries in undertaking their own scientific studies and encourage scientists engaged in such studies to take active roles in the international scientific community, where their efforts can be appreciated and used.
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From page 103... ...
6. For a comprehensive listing of most internationally available data sets from space missions, see the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's National Space Science Data Center home page at |
From page 104... ...
, 1992 Review of the World Data Center A for Rockets and Satellites, National Space Science Data Center, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.; National Research Council (1992) , Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.; National Academy of Public Administration (1991)
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From page 105... ...
, Solar-Terrestrial Data Access, Distribution and Archiving, Space Science Board and Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.; National Research Council (1982) , Selected Issues in Space Science Data Management and Computation, Space Science Board, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
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From page 106... ...
, Toward a Coordinated Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Nation, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
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From page 107... ...
. For UNESCO's programs on the advancement, transfer, and sharing of knowledge in the natural sciences, see also |
From page 108... ...
. ICSU also works to assist scientists in developing countries through its scientific unions and interdisciplinary committees; for example, CODATA recently established the Task Group on Outreach, Education, and Communication, which promotes collaboration, scientific information exchange, and technology transfer for individual scientists and technologists in developing nations.
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From page 109... ...
73. See |
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