Drowning in data: digital library architecture to support scientific use of embedded sensor networks

New technologies for scientific research are producing a deluge of data that is overwhelming traditional tools for data capture, analysis, storage, and access. We report on a study of scientific practices associated with dynamic deployments of embedded sensor networks to identify requirements for data digital libraries. As part of continuing research on scientific data management, we interviewed 22 participants in 5 environmental science projects to identify data types and uses, stages in their data life cycle, and requirements for digital library architecture. We found that scientists need continuous access to their data from the time that field experiments are designed through final analysis and publication, thus reflecting a broader notion of "digital library." Six categories of requirements are discussed: the ability to obtain and maintain data in the field, verify data in the field, document data context for subsequent interpretation, integrate data from multiple sources, analyze data, and preserve data. Three digital library efforts currently underway within the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing are addressing these requirements, with the goal of a tightly coupled interoperable framework that, in turn, will be a component of cyberinfrastructure for science.

[1]  Gregory J. Pottie,et al.  Principles of Embedded Networked Systems Design , 2005 .

[2]  Yasmin B. Kafai,et al.  Social Aspects of Digital Libraries. Final Report to the National Science Foundation , 1996 .

[3]  G. Bowker,et al.  An International Framework to Promote Access to Data , 2004, Science.

[4]  A. Strauss,et al.  The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research aldine de gruyter , 1968 .

[5]  David Bawden,et al.  Memory Practices in the Sciences , 2007 .

[6]  Anne E. Trefethen,et al.  The Data Deluge: An e-Science Perspective , 2003 .

[7]  Sarita Albagli,et al.  Memory Practices in the Sciences , 2008 .

[8]  Herbert Van de Sompel,et al.  An Interoperable Fabric for Scholarly Value Chains , 2006, D-Lib Magazine.

[9]  Noel Enyedy,et al.  Little science confronts the data deluge: habitat ecology, embedded sensor networks, and digital libraries , 2007, International Journal on Digital Libraries.

[10]  Noel Enyedy,et al.  Building Digital Libraries for Scientific Data: An Exploratory Study of Data Practices in Habitat Ecology , 2006, ECDL.

[11]  Deborah Estrin,et al.  Sensor networks: a bridge to the physical world , 2004 .

[12]  C. Brodsky.  The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research , 1968 .

[13]  Deborah Estrin,et al.  SensorBase.org: A Centralized Repository to Slog Sensor Network Data (KNO 2) , 2006 .

[14]  Sara R. Tompson.  Digital library use: Social practice in design and evaluation , 2006, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[15]  Kalpana Shankar.  Scientific data archiving: the state of the art in information, data, and metadata management , 2003 .

[16]  Matthew S. Mayernik,et al.  Knitting a fabric of sensor data resources , 2007 .