Data sharing and informationtechnology in the ecoresearch program

Abstract

The role of environmental information systems in accepting, storing and making available information to researchers in a major interdisciplinary study is crucial. General access to all relevant information for all aspects of such a project should be the goal, but is difficult to achieve because of constraints such as the availability of the information, its particular format, the costs associated with purchase or transfer of the information, the issues of ownership and copyright, and provision of a universally-accessible and efficient browsing and discovery system. This paper deals with these issues as applied to the multidisciplinary research study on an urbanizing watershed in Ontario. The conclusion was that a ‘common data set’ for any environmental research program orinvestigation where the public and the professionals or proponents have equal access is a goal of such systems, but is not yet feasible due to technical, legal and governance issues. The technical issues appear to be the most easily solved. The issues of ownership of data, availability and accessibility of information sources, quality and provenance of data, and relationships between agencies in thepublic and private sector are more complex and difficult to address. © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.