Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Aug 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006iauss...6e...1n&link_type=abstract
Astronomical Data Management, 26th meeting of the IAU, Special Session 6, 22 August, 2006 in Prague, Czech Republic, SPS6, #1
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Astronomy has a distinguished tradition of using technology to accelerate the quality and effectiveness of science. However, amongst the shining examples of excellent data management by major projects lie examples of projects and institutions where data management has not been properly resourced, or where hard-earned data remain inaccessible to most astronomers. We need to establish and agree on a set of guiding principles for the management of astronomical data. For example, all OECD governments, representing nearly all countries with major astronomical facilities, have committed to the principle that publicly-funded data should be placed in the public domain. The last IAU GA in Sydney passed a resolution that archive data from publicly funded observatories should be placed in the public domain. The HST archive, which quadruples the number of science publications resulting from HST data, has demonstrated the value to science of doing so. And yet many observatory archives are still inaccessible. Another example is the barrier between journals and data centres. The astronomical data centres are enormously successful, and provide powerful tools which have accelerated the advance of science, and some of our journals are forward-looking and receptive to new ideas. And yet most data published in those journals never appear in the data centres. These two examples show that we are not making most effective use of our data, and consequently are not extracting the maximum scientific value from our observatories and astronomers. The Virtual Observatory promises us tools to provide better access to data, but these tools lose their value if the data are not available. It is time for the astronomical community to adopt a professional approach to data management, to maximise the science that can be achieved with our new and existing facilities.
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