Full Proposals for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Proposed IPY Activity Details

1.0 PROPOSER INFORMATION

(Activity ID No: 51)

1.1 Title of Activity
International Polar Year Publications Database

1.2 Short Form Title of Proposed Activity
IPYPD

1.3 Activity Leader Details
Ross Goodwin
Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary
Canada

1.4 Lead International Organisation(s) (if applicable)
World Data Center for Glaciology, Boulder
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1.5 Other Countries involved in the activity
US
UK
India
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1.6 Expression of Intent ID #'s brought together in this proposed activity
462

1.7 Location of Field Activities
Bipolar

1.8 Which IPY themes are addressed
1. Current state of the environment
2. Change in the polar regions
3. Polar-global linkages/tele-connections
4. Exploring new frontiers
5. The polar regions as vantage points
6. The human dimension in polar regions

1.9 What is the main IPY target addressed by this activity
2. Data Management

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2.0 SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITY

The IPY Publications Database will identify and index the publications that result from the International Polar Year 2007-2008. This activity is a crucial part of IPY data management. Providing searchable metadata for IPY publications is as important as providing searchable metadata for IPY datasets. The IPY Publications Database is essential for the identification, dissemination and preservation of the achievements of the IPY. Twenty years from now, when someone asks, "What did the IPY accomplish?" the IPY Publications Database will provide a major part of the answer. As described in later sections of this proposal, the IPY Publications Database will also make a significant contribution to achieving the legacy, education, outreach and communication targets of the IPY.
The IPY Publications Database will be created by an expansion of the existing polar bibliographic infrastructure. The Cold Regions Bibliography Project (CRBP) at the American Geological Institute currently produces the Bibliography on Cold Regions Science and Technology and the Antarctic Bibliography. The Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) Library at the University of Cambridge produces the SPRILIB database and assists the CRBP with the Antarctic Bibliography. The Arctic Science and Technology Information System (ASTIS) at the Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary, produces the ASTIS database. All of these databases, and others, are combined by National Information Services Corporation (NISC) to produce the Arctic & Antarctic Regions (AAR) database describing more than one million polar publications.

The IPY Publications Database will be created by dividing responsibility for the coverage of IPY publications between the CRBP, the SPRI Library and ASTIS; by using the IPY Data Policy to ensure that all IPY publications are reported to at least one of these organizations; by obtaining funding that allows these organizations to index the increased number of polar publications that will result from the IPY; and by having NISC include the resulting bibliographic records in both the AAR database and a new free IPY Publications Database. Bibliographic records (metadata) for IPY publications will include citations, detailed subject and geographic indexing terms, and, in most cases, abstracts. Most IPY publications will be available online, and the records describing IPY publications will contain DOIs or URLs linking to the full-text of the publications.
With the IPY Joint Committee's support for this proposal, the members of the consortium are confident that they can obtain the necessary funding for this activity. At the peak of IPY indexing, which will occur two to four years after the IPY observation years, the amount of new money required may be about 10% of the consortium members' normal budgets. Raising this amount of additional money should be quite feasible. In the unlikely event that sufficient new money cannot be obtained, the members of the consortium will index as many IPY publications as possible themselves, and will encourage other members of the Polar Libraries Colloquy (the international organization of polar libraries and databases) to help fill any gaps.
Providing access to the publications that result from the IPY is just as important as providing access to other types of IPY data. The IPY Publications Database will ensure that IPY publications are identified and made accessible.

2.1 What is the evidence of inter-disciplinarity in this activity?
This activity brings inter-disciplinarity to the dissemination of IPY publications. Many IPY publications will be cited in discipline-oriented databases, but such databases are often unknown to researchers in other disciplines. Social science and grey literature are often not cited in any of the discipline-oriented databases. Without an IPY Publications Database, obtaining an inter-disciplinary view of IPY results, or a view of results by geographic region, will require searching many databases and will miss many publications.

2.2 What will be the significant advances/developments from this activity? What will be the major deliverables? What are the outputs for your peers?
The deliverables from this project will be several new polar bibliographic databases as well as improvements to many existing databases. The objective is to index a publication once and then to use the resulting bibliographic record in many ways. A new free database, the IPY Publications Database, will be created that describes all, and only, IPY publications. Records describing all IPY publications will also be added to the Arctic & Antarctic Regions database, which is widely used by polar research organizations and currently contains more than one million records describing polar publications. The IPY records prepared by each of the three indexing organizations will appear in those organizations' main databases: the Bibliography on Cold Regions Science and Technology, the Antarctic Bibliography, the SPRILIB database and the ASTIS database. At least two of the indexing organizations will also make their IPY records available in separate databases. For example, ASTIS will create a Canadian IPY Publications Database describing all publications that result from the Canadian IPY Program. In addition, IPY records will be used in subject- or region-specific subset databases, such as the Nunavut, Nunavik and Inuvialuit Settlement Region databases that ASTIS produces for the peoples of those regions. Users of these databases will learn of IPY publications that are relevant to their needs even if they have never heard of the IPY.

2.3 Outline the geographical location(s) for the proposed field work (approximate coordinates will be helpful if possible)

2.4 Define the approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities?

2.5 What major logistic support/facilities will be required for this project?

Further details – The facilities for this project, including computing equipment and trained staff, already exist at the four participating organizations.

2.6 How will the required logistics be supplied? Have operators been approached?

2.7 If working in the Arctic regions, has there been contact with local indigenous groups or relevant authorities regarding access?

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3.0 STRUCTURE OF THE ACTIVITY

3.1 Origin of the activity
This is a pulse of activity during 2007-2009 within an existing programme

If part of an existing programme please name the programme – CRBP, SPRI Library, ASTIS, AAR. The pulse will last approximately 10 years.

3.2 How will the activity be organised and managed? Describe the proposed management structure and means for coordinating across the cluster
The IPY Publications Database consortium is one of the affinity centres that will be coordinated by the IPY Data and Information Service (IPYDIS) at the World Data Center for Glaciology, Boulder. Like the other IPYDIS affinity centres, and the IPYDIS itself, the IPY Publications Database will work closely with the IPY Data Policy and Management Sub Committee and will be guided by the IPY Data Policy. The work of the IPY Publications Database consortium will be managed by a committee consisting of one representative from each of the four participating organizations. This committee will work by e-mail; no travel funding is required. The members of the consortium are already working together on other projects.

3.3 Will the activity leave a legacy of infrastructure and if so in what form?
The IPY Publications Database will leave a legacy of records (metadata) in many databases describing publications resulting from the IPY. This will ensure that the results of the IPY are not forgotten and are always available and accessible. This activity is being proposed by a consortium of four stable organizations with long histories of service to the polar research community. All IPY Publications Database records will be held by at least two of the organizations, so that in the unlikely event of the failure of one of the organizations no records will be lost.

3.4 Will the activity involve nations other than traditional polar nations? How will this be addressed?
This activity will cover publications from all countries that participate in the IPY. NISC is located in India, and that is where records from CRBP, SPRI and ASTIS will be combined to form the IPY Publications Database.

3.5 Will this activity be linked with other IPY core activities? If yes please specify
Because this is a data management activity it will link with, and cover publications from, all IPY activities. Some specific links worth noting are the intra-cluster link to the IPYDIS (#409) and the IPY Data Policy and Management Sub Committee, and the inter-cluster links to publications projects (#247, #303, #162).

3.6 How will the activity manage its data? Is there a viable plan and which data management organisations/structures will be involved?
This activity is a data management activity. It will work closely with the IPYDIS and the IPY Data Policy and Management Sub Committee, and will be guided by the IPY Data Policy.

3.7 Data Policy Agreement
Will this activity sign up to the IPY draft Data Policy (see website)
Yes

3.8 How will the activity contribute to developing the next generation of polar scientists, logisticians, etc.?
The Arctic & Antarctic Regions (AAR) database is already the primary bibliographic research tool for many new polar researchers at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. By making the bibliographic records created for the IPY Publications Database available in AAR this project will help to ensure that new researchers make use of IPY results. The availability of IPY records in the many other polar databases produced by the consortium members will also contribute to this goal.

3.9 How will this activity address education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
The IPY Publications Database will consider IPY publications prepared for education, outreach and communication purposes to be equal in importance to research publications. The database will allow educators, communicators and the public to easily find IPY publications about a particular subject or geographic area. User feedback has shown that the databases of the consortium members are used by all of the target audiences listed in "A Framework for the International Polar Year 2007-2008". School children and teachers, young and potential new polar researchers at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels, arctic communities, the general public and decision-makers will use the information in the IPY Publications Database.

3.10 What are the proposed sources of funding for this activity?
Partial funding for coverage of IPY publications by the Cold Regions Bibliography Project has been included in a proposal that is currently before the U.S. National Science Foundation. Additional funding will be sought from the NSF and other U.S. funding sources. Funding for the coverage of IPY publications by the Scott Polar Research Institute Library will be sought from the U.K. Economic and Social Research Council, the U.K. Joint Information Systems Committee and/or the University of Cambridge. Funding for the coverage of IPY publications by the Arctic Science and Technology Information System, and for the creation and maintenance of the free IPY Publications Database by National Information Services Corporation, will be sought from Canadian government sources and the northern Canadian petroleum industry.

3.11 Additional Comments
Because the participants in the IPY Publications Database consortium began working on this proposal in May 2005, the proposal includes only one EoI. Through discussions with Mark Parsons, author of the lead proposal for Cluster 8 - Data, it was decided that it made sense to submit this activity as a separate proposal rather than to include it in Mark's IPYDIS proposal. There were two reasons for this decision: unlike EoI #462 the activity is now world-wide in scope and includes multiple participants; and the activity deals with a very different type of data than the other EoIs in Cluster 8. All activities in Cluster 8 do, however, share a common rationale. Providing searchable metadata for IPY results, whether they are publications or datasets, is essential to the success of the IPY.

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4.0 CONSORTIUM INFORMATION

4.1 Contact Details

Lead Contact
Mr Ross Goodwin
Arctic Institute of North America
University of Calgary 2500 University Dr. N.W. Calgary, AB
T2N 1N4
Canada

Tel:          403-220-4036
Mobile:   N/A
Fax:         403-282-4609
Email:       rgoodwin@ucalgary.ca

Second Contact
Ms Sharon Tahirkheli
American Geological Institute
4220 King St. Alexandria, VA
22302-1502
USA

Tel:          703-379-2480 Ext. 231
Mobile:   N/A
Fax:         703-379-7563
Email:      snt@agiweb.org

4.2 Other significant consortium members and their affiliation