U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank Data Reporting and Use Protocol
Background
The fundamental objectives of U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank Program are
dependent upon the cooperation of scientists from several
disciplines. Physicists, biologists, and chemists must make use of
data collected during U.S. GLOBEC
Georges Bank field programs, historical retrospectives and laboratory
experiments to further our understanding of the interplay of
physics, biology, and chemistry. Our objectives require
quantitative analysis of interdisciplinary data sets and therefore
data must be exchanged between researchers. To extract the full
scientific value, data must be made available to the scientific
community on a timely basis and via a consistent user interface.
The U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank Program subscribes to the U.S.
GLOBEC Data Policy, see U.S.
GLOBEC Data Policy, U.S. Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics Report
Number 10, February 1994. A critical and unique component of
this data policy is that data from our program will be made
available when the data are useful. Oftentimes, this means that the
data may not yet be "final" (i.e. without known errors) and still
be accessible via our data system. Indeed, it is expected that data
will be made available as soon as possible, and that investigators
who use the data will help identify any errors or problems. Of
course, anyone who does use the data must follow our Data Acknowledgment
Policy.
A very brief summary of the US GLOBEC Data Policy can
be stated as follows:
- Data are to be made available to others in the program as soon
as they are useful. If errors are found in the data after the data
are made available, Investigators follow our
Data Errors Reporting Protocol.
- Measurements which do not involve manual analysis and which
would be useful to the science community must be submitted by the
principal investigator within six (6) months after collection.
Metadata should include any procedures that were followed to
correct errors, remove noise, or otherwise modify the collected
data.
- All other measurements and any standard analyses of these
measurements must be available to the community within one year
after collection.
While access to data can be restricted to PI's by way of passwording
data sets, the US GLOBEC Georges Bank program has not seen the
need to do it. In fact, they encourage the full and open access to all
the data collected. Of course, anyone using these data must adhere to
the US GLOBEC
Data Acknowledgment Policy.
Please contact the Data Management Office
if you have any questions or for help in accessing or using the
data.
For additional information about serving your data and/or adding data
to our system see Data serving, organization
and retrieval.
Last modified: November 28, 2001