Hackathons - Polar Data Forum IV
Best practices for polar data management – an interactive session bringing together polar researchers and polar data managers
Members of the Arctic and Antarctic data communities will be holding a workshop to interactively engage with researchers and program leaders (or anyone!) to discuss how data management expertise can help collate datasets and improve the trust that researchers can have in data compilations and data products. If you are involved in a project which brings together data from a variety of sources and formats, then this workshop is for you! This workshop will enable you to come and discuss your project with a range of data management experts and will act as a forum for providing information, offering advice, and helping to build networks. Topic suggestions in advance of the meeting will be welcomed (please send your suggestions to the workshop conveners).... Read more
Data Policy
At the Polar Data Forum III, held in Helsinki, Finland, in November 2019, a process was initiated to develop a basis for alignment of polar data policies. The process, involving data managers and experts from international polar data committees in both hemispheres, resulted in a report recommending ten fundamental principles for polar data policies. During this session we will look at those principles and other recent developments relating to international data policies and discuss the next steps towards further alignment across polar and global scientific communities and observation systems. Representatives of the relevant organisations are invited to present their views on the continued alignment process.... Read more
Documenting Data Flows into Aggregators
Increasingly, data portals are aggregating or federating feeds of data from many sources, as they attempt to provide comprehensive access to particular kinds of data for their users, and as part of a “collect once, use many times” ethos. As these aggregations proliferate, it is increasingly important to document these data flows and provenance, both to maximise the transparency of a data portal to its users and to help data managers identify potential duplications of datasets, QC/QF processes, and gaps in their data holdings. We also recognize that ease of user access should be consistent across aggregators. In this session, we will identify existing tools and best practices to document that information, and decide on a process for documenting data flows, using SOOSmap as an example aggregation.... Read more
Interoperability for polar observing networks and logistical resources
Within the polar and oceanographic communities there is an increasing interest to integrate databases of observing assets, networks, and logistical resources, including research stations, vessels, and expeditions. Integrating these databases requires cross walks of metadata models and the agreement of best practice methods for sharing the information between catalogues in order to achieve a unified view within and beyond the polar regions.... Read more
Polar Federated Search
Federated metadata search for the polar regions is dependent on the data centres that host polar-relevant data being able to present discovery metadata in a common way. The POLDER working group is developing a best practice guidance for the implementation of schema.org as a potentially light weight discovery metadata standard serving in particular the long tail data. The polar guidance contributes to and draws on similar efforts in allied science communities. This session will progress the development of that best practice documentation as well as inform the development of the pilot federated search tool that is currently being supported by the World Data System.... Read more
Semantics and Vocabularies
This session will be used to complete a Gap Analysis of common vocabularies that can be crosswalked. There are numerous groups working on semantic harmonization, such as the alignment of SWEET/ENVO vocabularies. It would be beneficial to see what the most common vocabularies are, and how they are being used in polar settings, and prioritize which would be useful to align next. This can be used to ensure inclusion of indigenous semantic resources, or outline a plan for how to include them moving forward.... Read more
VREs for Polar Oceans
What is needed for VRE’s that support the science we need for the polar oceans that we want. The goal of this session is to articulate the needs of a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) for the polar data community. It is both a needs assessment and visioning exercise that asks participants who represent many different roles what features or components they need in a VRE. We encourage professionals from different roles to weigh in on the discussion: administrators, data managers, research scientists, and policy makers. In addition to the desirable characteristics of VREs in general, are there specific platforms or data feeds that the community would benefit from development. For example, what is the future vision and plan to bring together GOOS, GCOS, GOS and GEOSS or other polar ocean resources.... Read more