Datalab Faculty
Carole PalmerProject Description
The Site-Based Data Curation project (SBDC) is developing a framework for the curation of research data generated at scientifically significant research sites. The framework is based on geobiology conducted at Yellowstone National Park, as an exemplar site producing data with long-term value. Yellowstone is a tremendously important and rich site for data collection in geobiology, drawing scientists investigating research questions ranging from the origin of life on Earth to the search for life on other planets. Modern research in the earth sciences increasingly depends on the development of systematic accounts of the interactions of physical, chemical and biological phenomena and the integration of diverse measurements and observations. Making data accessible and functional for these purposes will depend on 1) principled curation practices early in the data lifecycle and 2) curating cohesive and usable sets of data for transfer to repositories. The SBDC framework is also an important step forward in evolving the professional work of curation, and the inter-institutional relationships that are essential in the emerging ecology of scientific data curation.
This work was funded by IMLS National Leadership Grant LG‐06‐12‐0706‐12.
Publications
Palmer, Carole L., Thomer, Andrea, Baker, Karen S., Wickett, Karen M., Hendrix, Christie L., Rodman, Ann, Sigler, Stacey, Fouke, Bruce W. (2017). Site-based data curation based on hot spring geobiology. PLoS ONE 12(3): e0172090.
Thomer, Andrea, Wickett, Karen, Baker, Karen S., Fouke, Bruce, & Palmer, Carole L. (forthcoming). Documenting provenance in non-computational workflows: Development of Research Process Models through a case study of geobiology research in Yellowstone National Park. Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology.