Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #84: Capturing the Legacy: Recovery, rehabilitation, digitization, and translation of historic data  (Capturing the Legacy)

Outline
In many parts of the polar regions, environmental/climate change is already well underway, to the point where it is no longer feasible to collect baseline data against which change can be measured. However, substantial quantities of data were collected during previous IPYs and the IGY. In addition, data have been collected from major assessments related to development projects, research stations and research projects, and a wide range of other projects throughout the circumpolar world. Records collected during these previous exercises – both scientific and cultural/traditional – in many instances reveal that lost base line and, if recovered, improve our ability to quantify change over a period extending back as far as 125 years (in locations and disciplines covered in IPY1). Much of the data is dispersed in a variety of archives and storerooms and most of it is in non-digital form. During IPY 2007/2008, a circumpolar effort could be launched to rediscover, preserve, and translate into usable form the most valuable of knowledge collected in the past. Recovered and rehabilitated data could be stored in the same data repositories developed for IPY 2007/2008. At the same time, information with the widest application could be translated into accessible language or format to facilitate its broader use. This project would recapture and preserve the legacy of previous IPYs, as well as building a new legacy of accessible data and interpretive reports to add to the new knowledge that will be generated by IPY 2007/2008. This will be of direct benefit to IPY 2007/2008 in that comparison of the legacy data to the data collected during IPY 2007/2008 offers an expanded avenue of interpretation to current IPY researchers, future researchers and future IPYs. The addition of the legacy data to the data collected during IPY 2007/2008 will substantially enrich the resource available to future researchers and future IPYs.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
This project addresses, in particular, Theme 2, Change. By locating, preserving, and translating into usable form data collected during previous IPYs and similar exercises, we can increase our knowledge of past change and thereby improve our ability to project future change. The project also contributes significantly to Theme 6, Human Dimension. Although the human dimension was not a formal part of previous IPYs, many of the researchers involved collected vital information about the peoples they encountered during their research. Studies of attitudinal shifts between researchers then and now, as well as cultural changes with time among indigenous peoples, are possible.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
While few international collaborators have been approached at this point, the project will require engagement from as many as possible of the circumpolar nations and those nations involved in previous IPYs.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
No field work is involved. Activities will take place in archives, data repositories, etc. in many countries

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: n/a
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Data storage facilities, which should be co-located with IPY 2007/2008 data storage facilities.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The legacy will be information, an enrichment of the data archives that will be developed for 2007/2008.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Consortium
National agency
Other sources of support

This project is probably best approached through a consortium of academic or national agencies such as universities, archives, and research institutes, in association with the IPY 2007/2008 data acquisition and preservation system.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
This pre-proposal has been reviewed and is being submitted by the Canadian Steering Committee (CSC). Ongoing discussions will integrate this pre-proposal into a larger network of related national and international initiatives. The CSC has initially sorted this pre-proposal into: THEME: Educ, Out & Comm SUB-THEME: Ref tools & Matls

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
New

While the idea of a concerted international effort to retrieve and preserve these data constitutes a new project, it builds on some existing projects and on the data handling processes that will be part of IPY 2007-2008.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project should be governed by an international steering committee that includes representatives of the major international science organizations and the IPY 2007/2008 data administrators. Within each nation, it could be supervised by a suitable agency, such as the national archives or a research institution. While the individual agencies working on the project will develop their own approaches to executing and managing the work, certain stages and tasks will be common, including: • identification of data sources and locations • prioritization of data for recovery • identification of format(s) for storage of recovered data • development of protocols for quality control q3_3_EOCplan : * A newsletter, distributed primarily through the IPY website, with popular information about records that are being processed and the research projects that developed them. * Potential popular reports and articles based on the records. * Potential for undergraduate and graduate theses arising from recovered data. A clear plan for education, outreach, and communication activities would be provided in a full proposal.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
Data recovered will be translated and stored according to standards set for IPY 2007/2008 data and should be accessible through the same system. A clear plan for management of project data would be provided in a full proposal.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
We propose that each country/region participating in the project will be responsible for setting budgets for their own region. Additional funding will have to be found for coordination and perhaps compilation of the international efforts.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
The proposers of this project fully expect that similar projects will be put forward from other countries and recommend that these projects be grouped under a single management structure.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Claire Eamer
Northern Climate ExChange, Northern Research Institute
Yukon College
P.O. Box 2799, 500 College Drive, Whitehorse, Yukon
Y1A 5K4
Canada

Tel: (867) 668-8862
Mobile: no
Fax: (867) 668-8734
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation