Information Management
Misson Statement
- The primary objective of the SBC IM system is to facilitate diverse research and outreach goals by focusing on ease of access, data organization and integrity, and long-term preservation. The system is:
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1. cross-platform and largely based on Internet standards rather than on vendor-specific technology,
2. integrated with laboratory science to keep participants up to date on changes and advancements, and
3. modular, allowing us to incorporate the skills of a broad community and integrate SBC activities with those of the LTER network and our other collaborators.
1. Who we are
SBC leverages the Marine Science Institute (MSI) and the UC Santa Barbara campus network infrastructure, and works closely with the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCOweb.org), the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (MCR.lternet.edu), the Institute for Computational Earth Systems Science (www.ICESS.ucsb.edu), and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS.ucsb.edu). The informatics professionals contributing to SBC are Margaret O'Brien (SBC's information manager), Chris Jones (PISCO's data coordinator at UCSB), Jordan Morris (PISCO server administrator at UCSB), Jim Woods (MSI's system adminstrator), and Chad Burt (MSI web developer). The research staff contributing to information management are Shannon Harrer (Reef group), Chris Gotschalk (Ocean group) and Blair Goodridge (Watershed group).
2. Data Use Agreement and Access
SBC has adopted and posted the LTER General Use Agreement and employs the "Type I-II" designations. Type I data are generally posted within 1 or 2 years of collection, although some ongoing electronic data are available much sooner and results of some chemical analyses or procedures may be delayed. Our policy is that Type II data will be described in the public catalog, but distribution information for the tables set to "offline", and interested parties instructed to contact the researcher. In addition, SBC employs a "Type 0 (zero)" designation for data we have acquired from outside parties and which is often already public (e.g. USGS stream flow). These data are usually not republished, but instead, the browser redirected to the original resource. SBC's and the LTER Network data policies are available at: http://sbc.lternet.edu/data/data_agreement.html
3. IM System Overview
3.2. File server and Data Organization
All of SBC's data and metadata are stored in a hierarchical directory system on a central data server. All that is required to view any data file is a user account, but write-access for incoming data and data products is limited to those responsible for their collection and maintenance. With this system, data are available to all SBC members immediately. Members are also encouraged to use their home directories to take advantage of regular backups for their work-in-progress or personal data. Our common data areas have been stable for several years so that returning users will remain familiar with the structure. The directories for incoming data are maintained separately from those for "final" data products that are intended to be shared between disciplines or to be published. With this system, data are available to all SBC members immediately. The directory structure is published internally.
3.3. Secruity and Integrity
Backups are coordinated with MSI and UCSB. Full backups (level 0) are performed
monthly, with incremental (level 5) and progressive incremental (level 9)
backups weekly and daily, respectively. Five months of disk-to-disk
backups are stored on the server, with storage space allocated to the /backup
partition as necessary. Disk-to-disk backups are also transferred to a
LTO-3 tape drive with appropriate software (e.g., Amanda) for offsite
archive.