Data and Information Management in the Ecological Sciences
Friday and Saturday, August 8-9,1997, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Sponsors:
The National Science Foundation, Organization of Biological Field Stations,
and the Long-Term Studies Section of the Ecological Society of America
Workshop Organizers:
William Michener, Jones Ecological Research Center
James Gosz, University of New Mexico
Arthur McKee, Oregon State University
John Porter, University of Virginia
Workshop Program
FRIDAY AUGUST 8, 1997
8:30 Introductory Remarks
William Michener, Jones Ecological Research Center
James Gosz, University of New Mexico
Art McKee, Oregon State University
John Porter, University of Virginia
Welcome, Introductions, Objectives, Workshop Structure, Logistics, Announcements
9:00 Data Management: Basic Issues and Concepts
Susan Stafford, Oregon State University
Objectives of an information management system, Personnel and resources, Scaling and technology issues, Management requirements for scientific data, Strategies for success, Integrating data/information management into the scientific process
10:00 Technological Underpinnings I: Hardware
Scott Chapal, Jones Ecological Research Center
Right-sizing a computer infrastructure, LAN design goals for research information management, Rationale for a Client/Server architecture, Bandwidth and bottleneck avoidance, Budgetary constraints - acquisition vs. total cost of ownership, Field hardware and remote site considerations
10:45 Break
11:15 Technological Underpinnings II: Communications and Networking
Rudolf Nottrott, University of Washington
Internet technology to facilitate an Ecological Sciences Network; WAN/LAN integration for global communications and data exchange; Clients/Servers for information exchange: from email to video conferencing, from FTP to distributed databases; Data exchange and security in a global networking environment
12:00 Lunch
1:10 Technological Underpinnings III: Software
Karen Baker, University of California, San Diego
Software diversity, Scale and platform considerations, Annual LTER software survey results; Changes with time
1:20 Software Roundtable Discussion
Karen Baker, University of California, San Diego
John Porter1, University of Virginia
Mark Stromberg, Hastings Natural History Reservation
Hilary Swain2, Archbold Biological Station
Scott Chapal, Jones Ecological Research Center
Mark Schildhauer3, NCEAS
Open discussion of software choices, Implementation strategies, Site needs, and related topics
2:00 Data Entry
John Briggs, Kansas State University
Software (e.g., spreadsheets, Easy Entry, SAS, customized programs, etc.), Hardware (i.e., field data recorders), Implementation, Double key entry
2:15 Quality Assurance/Quality Control
Don Edwards, University of South Carolina
Practical approaches to QA/QC, Detecting illegal data,
Detecting outlying data, The data QC cycle, Organizational issues, Overview of current developments
3:15 Break
3:45 Scientific Databases
John Porter, University of Virginia
Facilitating new scientific paradigms, Database characteristics, Database evolution, Implementation decisions
4:45 Metadata
William Michener, Jones Ecological Research Center
Definition, Generic metadata descriptors, Implementation strategies, Software, Evolution of a metadata database, Standardization issues
5:15 Demonstrations, Open Discussion, etc.
6:00 Dinner (on your own or in groups)
SATURDAY AUGUST 9, 1997
8:00 Announcements
8:10 Data Archival
Dick Olson and Raymond McCord, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Functions of a data archive, Preservation media, Organization and formats for data and metadata, Creating metadata indices to allow users to search and order archived data, Promoting the use of archived data, Identifying current archives for ecological data
9:00 - 10:15 Special Session: World Wide Web, organized by Barbara Benson
9:00 Overview of the World Wide Web
Barbara Benson, University of Wisconsin, Madison
History, Types of information provided by WWW servers, Session theme -- "Utilization of the WWW in support of site-specific science", Session overview and introductions
9:15 Providing Information on the WWW
John Porter, University of Virginia
Constructing a home page, HTML editors, Design considerations, Search capabilities (site indexing tools), HTML forms (program management context); Server operation
9:30 Managing Data on the WWW
Matt Jones, National Center for Ecological Analysis and
Synthesis
Collecting metadata (HTML forms), Web/database integration, QA/QC
9:45 Creating 'Virtual Work Groups'
Mark Schildhauer, National Center for Ecological Analysis
and Synthesis
Description of Web-based collaborative mechanisms in use at NCEAS -- user-based upload of data and documents for sharing, and threaded, archived discussion list; Description of other network-based services that facilitate scientific collaboration -- tests of shared application interaction, shared whiteboarding, and live text-based discussion; Future paths -- real-time audiovisual interaction; Integrated, more compelling interface to achieve all the above
10:00 Finding Information on the WWW
Caroline Bledsoe, University of California, Davis
Useful sites and collection of available on-line data
10:15 Break
10:45 - 12:00 Examples of Site Implementation
10:45 Data Management at the North Temperate Lakes LTER
Barbara Benson, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Goals of the information management system, Information access, Database integrity, Future directions
11:00 Evolution of the Konza Prairie LTER Information Management System
John Briggs, Kansas State University
Site history, Goals of KP Information Management, LTER Program, Data integrity, Data security, Use of data, Evolution/growth, Future directions
11:15 Data Management Implementation at the Palmer LTER Site
Karen Baker, University of California, San Diego
Distributed needs and centralized access; Information organization and data synthesis; Electronically accessible catalog and data
11:30 XRoots
Caroline Bledsoe, University of California, Davis
Non-standard condition of data in the literature, Difficulties in translating current data into a comparable database, LTER data examples (climate, soils, and root data), Concept of "distribution data format" versus "site-specific or individual storage data format", Building a WWW-based database
11:45 Roundtable Discussion of Site Implementation Strategies
12:00 Lunch
1:15 Data Synthesis and Documentation at NCEAS
Matt Jones, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
Data set aggregation and synthesis; Standard code libraries for quality control, data extraction, and summarization; Metadata issues (e.g., standardization); Networked registries for ecological datasets
1:45 Climate Data Workshop I: Hardware and Connectivity
Doug Moore, University of New Mexico
Automated climate data collection using dataloggers, Retrieval of data from remote stations through various methods, Addition of data to master database with associated QA/QC, Providing almost real-time access to data to local users, Providing access to data summaries (daily, monthly) through the web
2:15 Climate Data Workshop II: Data Management
Don Henshaw, PNW Forest Service, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest LTER
Fred Bierlmaier, Oregon State University, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest LTER
Andrews Forest electronic data collection system, Background for current LTER Information Management ClimDB project, Metadata standards (LTER Climate Committee) with an example metadata structure from the Andrews Forest, Storage and distribution formats (XRoots Climate Workshop), Data exchange and access (ClimDB project)
3:00 Climate Data Workshop: Discussion and Demonstration
Doug Moore, University of New Mexico
Don Henshaw, Oregon State University
3:15 Break (and climate demos)
3:45 Visualization of Ecological and Environmental Data
John Helly, San Diego Supercomputer Center
Processing flow necessary to translate representative ecological data into a form suitable for scientific visualization (e.g., establishing scientific visualization objectives, identifying the image components that must be generated, visualization software system selection, shaping your data, organizing the image and integrating ancillary information, producing printable, publishable, presentable output); Examples include field survey data, regional scale climatological data, and data from simulations of continuous processes
5:15 Workshop Synthesis: An OBFS Perspective
Hilary Swain, Archbold Biological Station
Workshop highlights, Challenges, Opportunities,
Future directions
5:45 Closing Remarks
Training Coordinators
Karen Baker, Data Manager, Palmer LTER Site, University of California, La Jolla, CA
Barbara Benson, Data Manager, North Temperate Lakes LTER, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Fred Bierlmaier, Network and Database Administrator, Oregon State University, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest LTER, Corvallis, OR
Caroline Bledsoe, Associate Professor, University of California, Davis, CA
John Briggs, Co-PI and Data Manager, Konza Prairie LTER Site, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
Scott Chapal, Computer Operations and Network Manager, Jones Ecological Research Center, Newton, GA
Don Edwards, Professor, Department of Statistics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
James Gosz, Professor of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
John Helly, Senior Staff Scientist, San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California, La Jolla, CA
Don Henshaw, Data Manager, PNW Forest Service, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest LTER, Corvallis, OR
Matt Jones, Database and Information Specialist, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, CA
Raymond McCord, Manager, Atmospheric Radiation Monitoring (ARM) Data Archive, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
Arthur McKee, Director, Andrews Experimental Station, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Doug Moore, Climate Research Specialist, Sevilleta LTER Site, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
William Michener, Associate Scientist, Jones Ecological Research Center, Newton, GA
Rudolf Nottrott, Network Manager and Systems Administrator, LTER Network Office, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Dick Olson, Research Staff Member, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
John Porter, Research Assistant Professor, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Mark Schildhauer, Director of Computing, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, CA
Susan Stafford, Professor and Director Quantitative Sciences Group, Dept. of Forest Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Hilary Swain, Executive Director, Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, FL