SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management

1. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management Establishing a National Antarctic Data Centre (NADC) Helen Campbell

2. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management Background • Brief history of NADCs: • 1992 proposal for development of an Antarctic Data Directory System (ADDS) • 1998 ATCM recommends establishment of NADCs linked to the ADDS • 2009 development of a roadmap for SCAR data management and the ADMS. • The Antarctic Data Management System (ADMS) consists of: • A single portal for recording information about data holdings - the Antarctic Master Directory (AMD), and; • A distributed system for storing and enabling access to that data – the National Antarctic Data Centres (NADC).

3. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management The SCAR DIMS provides the new roadmap for SCAR Data Management and the ADMS Key players are: • SCAGI - Antarctic Spatial Data Infrastructure • SCAR SSGs and SRPs ensuring scientific relevance of data access systems • SCADM - overall responsibility for the ADMS • NADCs ……

4. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management NADC steps for participating in the ADMS: Nominate a SCADM representative Establish/nominate data archiving centre(s) Establish an AMD national portal Establish a national Antarctic data policy Create a data access website Collate data from science programmes Create project data management plans Create and publish an operational plan One-off/infrequent activities Create AMD metadata Publish data to SCAR endorsed networks Ongoing activities Archive data in nominated centres

5. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management Nominate a SCADM representative • Responsible for: • coordinating national Antarctic data management activities in support of SCAR strategy/policy • representing national Antarctic data interests on SCADM • Should have: • Expertise in data management • Good understanding of national Antarctic science activities, and data collection programmes • Resources and authority to participate in SCADM activities and communicate them to others involved in Antarctic science and data management • Ability, authority and resources to collate the data and ensure that it is managed and archived in line with SCAR policy • Close links with their national SCAGI representative

6. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management The primary function of the NADCs is to act as long-term repositories for archiving and publishing Antarctic data in line with SCAR policy, or to coordinate this activity Establish/nominate data archiving centre(s) • Nominated data archiving centres can be either: • A single National Antarctic Data Centre • A partnership of existing national data management facilities. • Their Antarctic data activities should: • be coordinated through the national SCADM representative • be capable of meeting SCAR data policy requirements for : • actively curating/archiving data for the long-term • facilitating re-use of data • publication to SCAR endorsed data access/distribution networks

7. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management Establish an AMD national portal Contact Stephanie Grebas (stephanie_grebas@ssaihq.com) at GCMD to establish a National NADC portal • To actively contribute to the AMD, it is vital to ensure you have sufficient resources within the NADC to either: • Create metadata on behalf of national scientists • Support national scientists in submitting metadata to the AMD • The Aug 2009 newsletter article entitled ‘Success story from a small National Antarctic Data Centre’ by Shulamit Gordon provides good suggestions

8. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management Establish a national Antarctic data policy • The policy should be publicly accessible and complementary to the SCAR Data Policy. • It is vital that it is supported by national funding agencies to enable them to enforce compliance. • Examples of existing national Antarctic Data Policies are available on the SCADM website

9. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management • An operational plan describes how data is managed and archived to facilitate re-use of data • This information should be publicly accessible Create and publish an operational plan • This should provide access to : • The AMD and your national portal • Data, or the national data archive(s) • The national data policy and operational plan Create a data access website

10. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management A suggested data management template accompanies the draft SCAR Data Policy The nominated SCADM representative must have close ties with the National Antarctic Science programme to ensure all science and data are captured Ongoing activities focussed around national science projects Collate data from science programmes Create project data management plans Create AMD metadata Publish data to SCAR endorsed networks Provide targetted access to data, based on scientific needs defined by SSGs and SRPs Archive data in nominated centres The SCADM website provides guidance on persuading scientists to submit data and metadata

11. SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management Next steps: • Establishing NADCs is endorsed by ATCM and SCAR • Support is available from well established NADCs • The SCAR DIMS will only work if supported by effective NADCs! • Development of national action plans on Wednesday afternoon should prioritise effective establishment of NADCs