NCEAS Project 2059
Automation of ecological data management using structured metadata (Hosted by NCEAS)
- Matthew B. Jones
- Frank W. Davis
- O. J. Reichman
- Mark P. Schildhauer
Ecoinformatics -- a working definition.
Software products for Ecological Data Management.
| Activity | Dates | Further Information |
|---|---|---|
| Workshop | 1st June 1997—31st August 1999 | Participant List |
| Graduate Student | 18th June 1997—30th June 1998 | Participant List |
| Undergraduate Intern | 17th October—14th December 1997 | Participant List |
| Undergraduate Intern | 1st April—30th June 1998 | Participant List |
| Working Group | 29th—30th June 1998 | Participant List |
| Graduate Student | 13th September—31st December 1999 | Participant List |
Abstract
Data management is a key element in facilitating synthetic ecological
research, and thus constitutes an important focus of efforts for NCEAS.
Researchers at NCEAS must integrate large numbers of arbitrarily structured
and poorly documented data sets. It is critically important that NCEAS
investigators, in collaboration with the Center's technical staff, prepare
and organize information about these data to facilitate appropriate use
and dissemination of the synthesized databases. While some work has been
completed towards the development of standards for ecological metadata,
relatively little has been done on issues surrounding the technological
implementation of a system that could make use of those content standards.
We propose to use Standardized General Markup Language (SGML) to formalize
a content standard for ecological metadata, and then to build a suite of
automated data management tools written in Java that use this formalized
standard. These software tools for documentation and quality control work
must be easy to use for the typical ecologist, thereby allowing them to
focus on ecological questions rather than database technologies.
| Type | Products of NCEAS Research |
|---|---|
| Presentations | Frondorf, Anne; Jones, Matthew B.; Stitt, Susan. 1999. Linking the FGDC Geospatial Metadata Content Standard to the biological/ecological Sciences. Proceedings of the Third IEEE Computer Society Metadata Conference. IEEE. Bethesda, MD. (Abstract) (Online version) |
| Report or White Paper | Jones, Matthew B. 1998. Web-based data management. Edited by Michener, W. K.; Porter, J. H.; Stafford, S. G.. Data and Information Management in the Ecological Sciences: A Resource Guide. LTER Network Office, University of New Mexico. Albuquerque, NM. |
| Report or White Paper | Jones, Matthew B. 1999. Automation of Ecological Data Management Using Structured Metadata. (Online version) |
| Presentations | Nottrott, Rudolf; Jones, Matthew B.; Schildhauer, Mark P. 1999. Using XML-Structured Metadata to automate quality assurance processing for ecological data. Proceedings of the Third IEEE Computer Society Metadata Conference. IEEE. Bethesda, MD. (Abstract) (Online version) |