Welcome to the Fall 2013 issue of Databits, which covers a variety of topics. A Commentary article gives an overview of network products, highlighting 2013 as a watershed year for the roll-out of community-developed IM tools. Several articles in this issue contain further information about these products. Two other commentaries extol the strengths of the EML Congruence Checker and offer a way to assess IM costs by source of support, an important consideration as changes in network operation are evaluated. Featured articles include use of the GCE Data Toolbox for automating sensor data harvesting and quality control; new DEIMS data discovery features (faceted searching and the Data Explorer); tools for securing data, a significant current topic; approaches for assuring data integrity; and the use of PASTA audit web services. Under “News Bits”, an update is provided on the GeoNIS web service for processing spatial data and delivering mapping services to sites. The Good Reads section includes reviews of a book regarding “Big Data” and an article on common errors in ecological data.
DataBits continues as a semi-annual electronic publication of the Long Term Ecological Research Network. It is designed to provide a timely, online resource for research information managers and is supported by rotating co-editors.
Hope Humphries (NWT) and John Porter (VCR), Fall 2013 Co-Editors
Table of Contents
| Featured Articles | ||
| Securing Your Data | John Porter | 1 |
| Automating Data Harvests with the GCE Data Toolbox | Wade Sheldon, John Chamblee, and Richard Cary | 2 |
| Using PASTA Audit Web Services | John Porter | 4 |
| Data Integrity, The Phrase I Don’t Hear Enough | Ryan Raub | 5 |
| Opening the Data Vault with the Drupal Ecological Information Management System | Inigo San Gil, Kristen Vanderbilt, Corinna Gries, Jeanine McGann, Marshall White, Eda Melendez-Colom, Aaron Stephenson, Jim Laundre, Hap Garritt, Ken Ramsey, Philip Tarrant, Ryan Raub, David Julian, Chau Chin Lin, David Blankman, Atzimba Lopez, Christina Takacs-Vesbach, Palantir.net and Dave Reid | 6 |
| Commentary | ||
| Efficient Data Curation with the EML Congruence Checker | Margaret O’Brien | 9 |
| Network Information Management Products Roll Out in 2013 | John Chamblee and Philip Tarrant | 10 |
| Understanding the True Cost of LTER Information Management | Philip Tarrant | 10 |
| News Bits | ||
| GeoNIS Project Update | Theresa Valentine | 11 |
| Good Reads | ||
| Review: Common Errors in Ecological Data Sharing | Hope Humphries | 12 |
| Review: Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think | John Porter | 12 |
