Collaborative Research: Multi-Institution Testbed for Scalable Digital Archiving

长期保存数字数据在科学领域至关重要，特别是在数据采集成本非常高的海洋科学领域，通常每个项目仅船舶时间就需要75万美元，并且重新获取数据集通常是不可行的。仪器、媒体和格式正在迅速发展，越来越多类型的传感器被使用，收集的数据量呈指数级增长。虽然存储技术已经取得了巨大的进步，但仅靠原始存储容量并不能解决长期的数据检索和保存问题。数据收集多年后，研究人员试图重新使用这些数据，以发现有关原始观测背景的信息。元数据基础设施的严重缺乏，并且在单个项目、不同的计算机系统和不同的机构之间经常存在实质性的障碍。由于长期保存数据的要求和独立重用数据的要求有很多共同之处，它们都可以通过一种共同的方法来满足，即在为处理科学数据而设计的数字图书馆中发布信息。该合同将建立一个多机构、可扩展的数字存档试验台，结合圣地亚哥超级计算机中心（SDSC）、斯克里普斯海洋学研究所（SIO）和伍兹霍尔海洋学研究所（WHOI）的努力。这个跨机构示范项目将实现一个功能齐全的数字图书馆，提供一系列管理功能，包括自动摄取、元数据提取、来源跟踪、验证、质量控制和访问控制。SIO/WHOI合并后的数字图书馆将允许每年保存大约60个新的海洋学研究项目的数据，从而增加过去40年来向数十个机构提供的大约1600个奖项的数据，涵盖广泛的学科。随着WHOI数据的引入，该试验台将提供来自WHOI船舶、Alvin潜水器和Jason ROV潜水器以及深拖曳车辆调查的数据、照片、视频图像和文件。将测试可伸缩性的概念，因为数据量从每次巡航3张cd到每次巡航200张dvd不等。交互式数字图书馆界面将允许浏览、元数据检查和显示或选择对象以供下载的分布式集合组合。此外，将实施网络服务，以确保计算机对计算机的互操作性，从而帮助简化与NOAA的国家数据中心和其他主要研究联盟的数据交换。更广泛的影响这项工作的数据和技术将被纳入计划于2005年夏季在SIO举行的第二次全国教师研讨会，该研讨会是为受资助者的ERESE（地球科学教育持久资源）项目而举办的。这些努力将使3000名学生在参与教师的教室中直接访问，并通过互联网作为NSF国家科学数字图书馆的组成部分获得更广泛的受众。阿尔文的海底照片和视频吸引了世界各地几代学生。这一努力将使学生、教师和公众更容易获得这些图像。

Intellectual meritLong-term preservation of digital data is critical in the sciences and especially so in the ocean sciences where the cost of data acquisition is very high, typically $750K per project for ship time alone, and re-acquiring datasets is generally not feasible. Instrumentation, media and formats are rapidly evolving, more diverse types of sensors are being used, and the volume of data collected is increasing exponentially. While there have been dramatic advances in storage technology, raw storage capacity alone will not solve the long-term data retrieval and preservation problems. Years after data were collected, researchers seeking to re-use the data struggle to discover information about the context of original observations. There is a critical lack of metadatainfrastructure, and substantial barriers often exist between individual projects, diverse computer systems, and different institutions. Because the requirements for long-term preservation of data and those for independent re-use of data have a great deal in common, they can both be met by a common approach, the publication of information in a digital library designed for handling scientific data. This award will establish a multi-institution, scalable digital archiving testbed, combining the efforts of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). This inter-institutional demonstration project, will implement a fully functioning digital library, providing a spectrum of curatorial functions including automated ingest, metadata extraction, provenance tracking, validation, quality control, and access control. The combined SIO/WHOI digital library will allow data from approximately 60 new oceanogrphic research projects to be preserved each year, augmenting data from roughly 1600 awards to dozens of institutions over the last 4 decades, over a wide range of disciplines. With the introduction of WHOI data, the testbed will provide access to data, photographs, video images and documents from WHOI ships, Alvin submersible and Jason ROV dives, and deep-towed vehicle surveys. Notions of scalability will be tested, as data volumes range from 3 CDs per cruise to 200 DVDs per cruise. An interactive digital library interface will allow combinations of distributed collections to be browsed, metadatainspected, and objects displayed or selected for download. In addition, web services will be implemented to insure computer-to-computer interoperability, thus helping to streamline data interchange with the NOAA's National Data Centers, and with other major research consortia. Broader impactData and technology from this effort will be incorporated in the second national teachers' workshop for the grantees' ERESE (Enduring Resources for Earth Science Education) Project, scheduled for summer, 2005 at SIO. These efforts will result in direct access for 3000 students in the classrooms of participating teachers, and a wider audience across the Internet as a component of NSF's National Science Digital Library. Seafloor photos and video from Alvin have enthralled schoolchildren around the world for generations. This effort will make these images much more readily accessible to students, teachers and the general public.