Abstract: The Electronic Geophysical Year, 2007-2008 (eGY) uses the 50-year anniversary of the acclaimed International Geophysical Year to advance open access to data, information, and services.
The International Polar Years of 1882-1882 and 1932-1933 taught us that free and open exchange of data between nations is cost effective. The International Geophysical Year (1957-1958) taught us that free and open exchange of data between scientific disciplines generates new and exciting research. The worldwide network of data centers and data standards initiated during IGY continues to foster research to this day. And better things lie ahead.
As we approach the 50th anniversary of the IGY, the development of distributed data systems allows worldwide connectivity to data and services at a level never before possible. Such systems (virtual observatories, and so forth) expand the free, open, and cross-disciplinary exchange of data by allowing users worldwide to access and manipulate data from principal data centers as well as from small, previously isolated, research groups.
The new information and communication technologies require that we adopt community-developed standards for data storage and description. They also demand that we recognize and accommodate the shift in effort from the user to the provider that accompanies a change from the traditional user-pull to a modern provider-push data environment.
eGY provides an opportunity for coordinated discussions on data storage and description standards. These standards have implications for the infrastructure needed to access and process data. eGY also provides an opportunity to revisit the challenges of data discovery, rescue, and preservation. We will present examples and discuss ways to participate in the eGY process.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/11/2006 10:27:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
