Iode.org
Title
IODE ::
Description
The planning and implementation of research, and the efficient management of the resulting data often appear to be two widely separated worlds. Data managers consider the careful collection, management and dissemination of research data as essential for the effective use of research funds. Many researchers, on the other hand, consider data management as technical, boring and an (un)necessary evil; so data management is often insufficiently planned, or not planned for at all, and is assigned a low priority. This is unfortunate, as there is much of social relevance and applicability in the colourful world of oceanographic data management. Our objective is to guide you through some of the many initiatives related to marine data management and to present the main players. We focus mostly on physical and biological oceanographic data (Boxes 2 and 3), less on hydrographic, chemical and geological data. We also discuss the new trends and developments that will determine the future of this field.
First, we need to distinguish ‘data’ from ‘information’. ‘Data’ are observable, raw ‘values’ that result from research or monitoring activities; these values can be numerical (as in temperature or salinity measurements) or nominal (as in species lists for a particular region). The term ‘information’ is commonly used to mean data that have already been processed and/or interpreted results. In that sense, so-called ‘metadata’, i.e. data about data (e.g. by whom, at what time, where and how the results were collected) can be considered a special kind of ‘information’.
eminate the results as widely and in as user-friendly a manner as possible, cannot be overestimated. More services and products useful to industry, the general public and policy makers, could, and should, be extracted from databases. The oceans cover two-thirds of the Earth, and about half the world population live in coastal areas, so monitoring the health, resources and ‘tantrums’ of the global ocean is no luxury. There are many applications of data-management that relate to climate and weather, safety at sea and along the coast, fisheries, offshore activities, management of the seas, etc. Let us focus on a few examples.
Contact
- IOC of UNESCO
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- Paris
- FR 75732
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- +33.145684046
