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GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS, VOL. 4, NO. 1, 1010, doi:10.1029/2002GC000318, 2003

Scalable models of data sharing in Earth sciences

John Helly

San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California Mail Code 0527, 92093, USA


Hubert Staudigel

Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 8800 Biological Grade, La Jolla, California 92037, USA


Anthony Koppers

Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 8800 Biological Grade, La Jolla, California 92037, USA


Abstract

Many Earth science disciplines are currently experiencing the emergence of new ways of data publication and the establishment of an information technology infrastructure for data archiving and exchange. Building on efforts to standardize data and metadata publication in geochemistry [Staudigel et al., 2002], here we discuss options for data publication, archiving and exchange. All of these options have to be structured to meet some minimum requirements of scholarly publication, in particular reliability of archival, reproducibility and falsifiability. All data publication and archival methods should strive to produce databases that are fully interoperable and this requires an appropriate data and metadata interchange protocol. To accomplish the latter we propose a new Metadata Interchange Format (.mif) that can be used for more effective sharing of data and metadata across digital libraries, data archives, and research projects. This is not a proposal for a particular set of metadata parameters but rather of a methodology that will enable metadata parameter sets to be easily developed and interchanged between research organizations. Examples are provided for geochemical data as well as map images to illustrate the flexibility of the approach.

Received 25 January 2002; accepted 15 August 2002; published 25 January 2003.

Keywords: Data management; publication; metadata; geosciences; interdisciplinary; data sharing.

Index Terms: 9810 General or Miscellaneous: New fields (not classifiable under other headings); 1094 Geochemistry: Instruments and techniques; 1594 Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism: Instruments and techniques; 3094 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Instruments and techniques; 4594 Oceanography: Physical: Instruments and techniques.

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Citation: Helly, J., H. Staudigel, and A. Koppers (2003), Scalable models of data sharing in Earth sciences, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 4(1), 1010, doi:10.1029/2002GC000318.