a looming crisis: maintaining access to electronic research products daphne fautin university of...

A LOOMING CRISIS: MAINTAINING ACCESS

TO ELECTRONIC RESEARCH PRODUCTS

A LOOMING CRISIS: MAINTAINING ACCESS

TO ELECTRONIC RESEARCH PRODUCTS

Daphne FautinUniversity of Kansas

Gail KampmeierIllinois Natural History Survey

Daphne FautinUniversity of Kansas

Gail KampmeierIllinois Natural History Survey

Electronic PEET ProductsElectronic PEET Products

Project web pages Images Literature - publications,

reports, field journals Gene sequences and other

molecular data Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

Project web pages Images Literature - publications,

reports, field journals Gene sequences and other

molecular data Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

What Happens…What Happens…When project funding ceasesWhen project members

disperseWhen PIs retire, change

research topics, move, or …

When project funding ceasesWhen project members

disperseWhen PIs retire, change

research topics, move, or …

Who will champion access to the Who will champion access to the electronic resources produced by electronic resources produced by PEETs, AToLs, BSIs, PBIs, …?PEETs, AToLs, BSIs, PBIs, …?

Fate of Our Electronic Resources

Fate of Our Electronic Resources

Who should be responsible? Institutions originally receiving

project funding? Funding agencies? Those creating the resources? Professional societies?

Who should be responsible? Institutions originally receiving

project funding? Funding agencies? Those creating the resources? Professional societies?

IssuesIssues

Who owns the products? (not an issue only for electronic media)

How can the products continue to be served?

How should the products best be preserved?

Who owns the products? (not an issue only for electronic media)

How can the products continue to be served?

How should the products best be preserved?

This is a global issueThis is a global issue

Among efforts to grapple with it is the 2005 National Science Board Report 05-40

Among efforts to grapple with it is the 2005 National Science Board Report 05-40

www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsb0540

(NPR this morning on electronic art and art museums)

IssuesIssues

Who owns the products? (not an issue only for electronic media)

How can the products continue to be served?

How should the products best be preserved?

Who owns the products? (not an issue only for electronic media)

How can the products continue to be served?

How should the products best be preserved?

LIBRARIESLIBRARIES have historically been the repository of scholarly output (= publications)

MUSEUMSMUSEUMS have been custodians of specimens

Some other physical objects end up in TRADITIONAL TRADITIONAL ARCHIVESARCHIVES

ArchivingArchiving

ArchivingArchivingWHICH products should be preservedHOW should they be preservedWHERE should they be preserved

Locally, supercomputers, electronic archives, etc.

WHICH products should be preservedHOW should they be preservedWHERE should they be preserved

Locally, supercomputers, electronic archives, etc.

Metadata: retrieval requires excellent documentationSoftware versions: a practical challenge, not a technical one

(remember Gene Stoermer!)

Electronic PEET ProductsElectronic PEET Products

Project web pages Images Literature - publications, reports,

field journals Gene sequences and other

molecular data Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

Project web pages Images Literature - publications, reports,

field journals Gene sequences and other

molecular data Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

Internet ArchiveInternet Archive

Mr. Peabody’s WayBack Machine…

Mr. Peabody’s WayBack Machine…

Caveats: Pages Not Archived

Caveats: Pages Not Archived

Anything requiring interaction with the server Forms, database-generated content Javascript not resolving in true URLs Server-side image maps

Pages with robot exclusion headers (robots.txt)

Orphan pages (no links into) Unknown sites

Anything requiring interaction with the server Forms, database-generated content Javascript not resolving in true URLs Server-side image maps

Pages with robot exclusion headers (robots.txt)

Orphan pages (no links into) Unknown sites

Electronic PEET ProductsElectronic PEET Products

Project web pages Images Literature - publications, reports,

field journals Gene sequences and other

molecular data Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

Project web pages Images Literature - publications, reports,

field journals Gene sequences and other

molecular data Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

ImagesImages Scanned

Resolution Format standard: TIF?

Produced digitally Format evolution of production software if

not saved as flat TIF

Scanned Resolution Format standard: TIF?

Produced digitally Format evolution of production software if

not saved as flat TIF

Electronic PEET ProductsElectronic PEET Products

Project web pages Images Literature - publications,

reports, field journals Gene sequences and other

molecular data Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

Project web pages Images Literature - publications,

reports, field journals Gene sequences and other

molecular data Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

Literature, Reports, Field Journals...

Literature, Reports, Field Journals...

Issues similar to images Format evolution Media migration Metadata for retrieval OCR for finding individual items

Solutions are library-like, requiring recurring infusions of $$$ Personnel

Migrate as formats evolve, versions change Time Digital lifetime determination

Issues similar to images Format evolution Media migration Metadata for retrieval OCR for finding individual items

Solutions are library-like, requiring recurring infusions of $$$ Personnel

Migrate as formats evolve, versions change Time Digital lifetime determination

Literature, Reports, Field Journals...

Literature, Reports, Field Journals...

Electronic PEET ProductsElectronic PEET Products

Project web pages Images Literature - publications, reports,

field journals Gene sequences and other

molecular data Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

Project web pages Images Literature - publications, reports,

field journals Gene sequences and other

molecular data Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

Gene sequence

s and other

molecular data

Gene sequence

s and other

molecular data

A central archive –a library!

Maintained by a Federal agency

Electronic PEET ProductsElectronic PEET Products

Project web pages Images Literature - publications, reports,

field journals Gene sequences

Project web pages Images Literature - publications, reports,

field journals Gene sequences Character matrices & keys Databases - data & structure

Character Matrices & KeysCharacter Matrices & Keys DELTA/INTKEY (example of standard in

danger of format evolution) Lucid (now in Version 3.4) MacClade PAUP Hennig86 MorphoBank Others…

DELTA/INTKEY (example of standard in danger of format evolution)

Lucid (now in Version 3.4) MacClade PAUP Hennig86 MorphoBank Others…

Relational Databases: Content & Structure

Relational Databases: Content & Structure

Archiving Metadata essential for discovery Convert to flat files

Software-independent format (e.g. comma delimited)

Lose relational structure – but relationships can be coded

Archiving Metadata essential for discovery Convert to flat files

Software-independent format (e.g. comma delimited)

Lose relational structure – but relationships can be coded

Relational Databases: Content & Structure

Relational Databases: Content & Structure

Continued service Version changes High maintenance (some require

professional DBA) One size generally does not fit all – makes

it difficult to pass on Maintain also “front end” (required for

queries) scripting language: e.g. ColdFusion, PHP

Continued service Version changes High maintenance (some require

professional DBA) One size generally does not fit all – makes

it difficult to pass on Maintain also “front end” (required for

queries) scripting language: e.g. ColdFusion, PHP

a SILVER BULLETor

SILVER BUCKSHOT?

a SILVER BULLETor

SILVER BUCKSHOT?

Concentration of resources vs. discovery of new methods by

diversification

Concentration of resources vs. discovery of new methods by

diversification

TO MAINTAIN ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC RESEARCH

PRODUCTS

Demonstrate value / usefulness

Demonstrate value / usefulness

Hits / citationsCan be problematic for taxonomy / systematics

Become part of large entity

the data portal for and legacy of

www.iobis.org

the main provider of marine data to

(currently the third-largest data provider with nearly 10 million

records)

www.gbif.org

Maintaining functionalityMaintaining functionality

A distributed resource

PORTAL

CONTRIBUTORS

OBISGBIFFishBase Consortium

IndividualsInstitutions

LIBRARIES have been custodiansof scholarly knowledge

DIGITAL LIBRARIES

www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsb0540

The Foundation should actively engage with the community to ensure that community policies and priorities are established and then updated in a timely way.

The Foundation should actively engage with the community to ensure that community policies and priorities are established and then updated in a timely way.

Develop a clear technical and financial strategy; create policy for key issues

consistent with the technical and financial strategy.

Develop a clear technical and financial strategy; create policy for key issues

consistent with the technical and financial strategy.

Recurring Challenges Recurring Challenges $$$ Personnel Time Format evolution / back

compatibility Metadata – complete, appropriate

(controlled vocabulary) Digital lifetime - determining

what, if anything, should be truly discarded

$$$ Personnel Time Format evolution / back

compatibility Metadata – complete, appropriate

(controlled vocabulary) Digital lifetime - determining

what, if anything, should be truly discarded

IT’S UP TO US