Transcript 2005 IAMSLIC Roma, Nieuwenhuysen Paul
Open access study materials for better information management: developing
OceanTeacher
1
A contribution to the annual IAMSLIC conference, this year at
FAO
October 2005 in Roma/Rome, Italia/Italy by Paul.Nieuwenhuysen
P.Pissierssens
Linda.Pikula
Murraybr @vub.ac.be
@unesco.org
@noaa.gov
@bellsouth.net
-
contents - summary - structure
- overview
of this contribution 1.
About UNESCO-IOC-IODE 2.
3.
4.
Evolution and aims of
OceanTeacher
Structure and contents of
OceanTeacher
Plans for further development of
OceanTeacher
5.
Challenges and bottlenecks related to
OceanTeacher
6.
Assessment/evaluation of
OceanTeacher
7.
Invitation to contribute
2
Abstract
• • • • • • •
Study materials about data and information management that are freely available through the Internet and the WWW are collected and made available through the
OceanTeacher
system in an organized way. Either we include the full documents or at least a WWW hyperlink to the documents in case the document cannot be copied for some technical reason or because of copyright restrictions. It is important that as many as possible full documents are included, because many users work in developing countries without broadband internet access. More specifically, most attention is spent to study materials on data and information management to support marine science or oceanography, as the whole system is created in the framework of UNESCO - International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) - International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) network. The primary aim of the system is to assist managers and staff members to set up and run new IODE centres. In parallel with the part on information management, study materials on data management are included and this forms now the largest part. This contribution offers an overview of the evolution of the system, the bottlenecks, the state of the art, and the plans for the future.
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UNESCO > IOC > IODE
UNESCO with headquarters in Paris, the
United Nations organization for education, science and culture
> UNESCO-IOC
The International Oceanographic Commission
> UNESCO-IOC-IODE = The International Oceanographic
Data and Information Exchange
established by the IOC in 1960.
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The aims of UNESCO-IOC-IODE
•
to facilitate and promote the exchange of oceanographic data and information
•
to develop standards, formats, and methods for the global exchange of oceanographic data and information
•
to assist member states to acquire the necessary capacity to manage oceanographic data and information and become partners in the IODE network
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UNESCO-IOC-IODE activities aimed at capacity building
UNESCO UNESCO-IOC UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO-IOC-IODE capacity building
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UNESCO-IOC-IODE activities aimed at capacity building
•
National & regional workshops and training courses
•
Advisory missions
•
Internships
•
Regional Ocean Data & Information Exchange Networks For instance
» ODINAFRICA for Africa (running) » ODINCARSA for the Carribean and South America (needs more funding) » ODINCINDIO for the Indian Ocean?
•
Training tools:
OceanTeacher
!
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UNESCO-IOC-IODE regional ODIN networks
•
The ODIN strategy includes the following components:
» Linking of training equipment operational support » Stimulating regional co-operation » Orientation towards concrete products and services » Taking into account the many stakeholders 8
UNESCO > IOC > IODE > ODINAFRICA
For instance:
ODINAFRICA = The Ocean Data and Information Network for Africa
http://ioc.unesco.org/odinafrica/
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UNESCO-IOC-IODE project
ODINAFRICA
•
Started in 2001 with 20 States in Africa.
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UNESCO-IOC-IODE-
ODINAFRICA
aims
•
Aims include the following
» to improve access to data and information available in African marine science centers » to develop skills for the creation, dissemination and analysis of data and information products » to stimulate the transition towards digital information systems on the Internet like catalogues + interlibrary lending + communication by e-mail + usage of Internet-based information sources + document repositories 11
UNESCO-IOC-IODE-
ODINAFRICA
achievements
•
National Oceanographic Data Centers established
•
Improved Internet connectivity
•
Data atlases, meta-databases, national ocean awareness activities, stakeholder meetings, national coordination teams, training courses…
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UNESCO-IOC-IODE-
ODINAFRICA
achievements
•
Improved marine information management:
» libraries established » one computer program for integrated library management provided and installed in most centers » training courses for information managers » national catalogues created » merging in a union catalogue that is searchable through the WWW » start-up of 1 common ODINAFRICA document-repository 13
UNESCO
OceanTeacher
situated in UNESCO-IOC-IODE
UNESCO-IOC UNESCO-IOC-IODE UNESCO-IOC-IODE capacity building UNESCO-IOC-IODE
OceanTeacher
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UNESCO-IOC-IODE project
OceanTeacher
•
OceanTeacher
provides training tools for data and information exchange in general and in particular for applications in ocean science.
•
These tools are used during IODE training courses, but they can also be used for self training and continuous professional development.
• http://ioc.unesco.org/oceanteacher/ •
The WWW site is accessible free of charge.
•
The site can also be obtained on 1 DVD disk
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UNESCO-IOC-IODE the evolution towards
OceanTeacher
16 •
1960-1997: no standard curriculum
•
1997: start of the development of HTML-based training curriculum on CD
•
1998: start of the IODE “ResourceKit”
•
2001: “ResourceKit” + training modules =
OceanTeacher
UNESCO-IOC-IODE the evolution towards
OceanTeacher
17 •
2003: refinement of the outline = taxonomy = classification of the study materials
UNESCO-IOC-IODE the evolution towards
OceanTeacher
18 •
2004: bringing together in common modules the documents on topics that are relevant for data as well as information management, such as ICT and metadata; renaming to
OceanTeacher “
Digital Library” + “Courses”
UNESCO-IOC-IODE project
OceanTeacher
•
This can be considered primarily as an open access digital library developed in an international co-operation.
•
This offers
» documents » hyperlinks to documents on the WWW » computer programs » references to related products (such as the FAO cd-rom) 19
OceanTeacher
digital library
Global oceanography today
Information and communication science and technology
20 Data management in science Data management in ocean science
Information management in science Information management in ocean science
OceanTeacher
digital library
•
The digital library can be browsed.
•
To facilitate editing and browsing, a taxonomy is developed and applied.
•
The contents can be searched using an external search system (for instance
).
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OceanTeacher
digital library and courses
Besides the digital library, various “courses” guide users and trainees through the digital library, in a way that corresponds to the aims and audience of a particular training course.
OceanTeacher
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Digital library
Courses
OceanTeacher
courses
The creation and application of a “Course” works
» WELL in the case of 1 trainer who can directly contribute online to the OceanTeacher WWW site » but NOT WELL in the case of several trainers who cannot directly contribute online to the OceanTeacher WWW site 23
OceanTeacher
size
•
OceanTeacher
is in 2005 perhaps the largest stand alone, single-topic teaching system on the WWW.
•
It incorporates the following
» 1.5 GBytes » More than 6000 individual files » About 3600 illustrations » More than 14000 internal cross-links that integrate the entire system » More than 13000 links to external resources » Many oceanographic textbooks 24
OceanTeacher
challenges and bottlenecks
•
Permission must be obtained to include some materials in
OceanTeacher
, even when they are available/accessible free of charge
25 continued…
OceanTeacher
challenges and bottlenecks
•
Only few study materials
» are available free of charge » offer high quality contents » are up to date and will be updated later when needed 26 continued…
OceanTeacher
challenges and bottlenecks
•
Keeping copies of documents and programs up to date in the
OceanTeacher
system, when the original master version contents is updated elsewhere
•
International co-operation requires some face-to-face contacts, which is expensive
27 continued…
OceanTeacher
challenges and bottlenecks
•
Funds are limited (of course)
•
Differences in language among the users hinder communication, training and learning (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese…)
•
…
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Further development of
OceanTeacher
•
Development goes on in the
ODIMEX
from 2004 to 2007.
project
•
This work is supported by the Government of Flanders, Belgium.
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Further development of
OceanTeacher
•
Enlarge and improve the open access digital library of study materials on data and information management
•
In parallel: Evaluate, refine and improve the taxonomy / structure of the digital library
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Further development of
OceanTeacher
•
Expand the topics covered, with
» Remote Sensing » Marine biological data management » Operational oceanography data management » Circulation modelling 31
Further development of
OceanTeacher
•
Expand target audience: focus also on scientists in related areas, not only data and information managers.
•
Derive from
OceanTeacher
a more or less standard proposed university curricula, for various study programs.
•
Focus not only on starting data and information centers in developing countries, but also on continuous professional development.
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Further development of
OceanTeacher
•
Extend
OceanTeacher
from a static web site to a web site that is managed by a contents management system, which is of course based on a database management system and
» which provides an electronic learning environment » which can not only be browsed, but also searched by an internal search system 33
UNESCO-IOC-IODE O
ceanTeacher
www site
Web master Files on the WWW evolution database 34 Contributors Contributors
Assessment / evaluation of
OceanTeacher
• • •
Assessment of the product developed during a project or during a phase in a longer, ongoing project, is of course desirable.
How to evaluate a product like
OceanTeacher
still evolving fast?
that is Up to now, the system has already been an essential component of several training courses on marine data management and on marine information management.
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UNESCO-IOC-IODE invitation of authors
•
You are invited to contribute documents to the
OceanTeacher
digital library on information management for library and information staff.
•
Why contribute?
» High visibility of the WWW site » Prestigious, due to quality control by the chief editors and the international character » Probably long term stability of the system, due to international support 36
Questions and suggestions are welcome
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