10.5.7 Network Access
In today’s world, data access across a network or the Internet is becoming
an important issue. Providing access to databases for a large number of
users requires building databases that are well documented, easy to understand, and protected. Many software solutions exist for serving data to users
across a network. The setup of these data servers should provide good
service but should also protect the data from unintentional changes. Data
managers should be the only ones able to modify the data. Edits or additions to the database should have well-documented procedures.
Providing full access to a database may not be what is always needed. In
some cases, databases should be protected with passwords or user privileges
that would prevent full-read access to all of the data. When providing
network access, the bandwidth of the provider should be considered. The
server must be able to provide the data to users at a rate that is satisfactory and economical.
10.6 Data Access Concerns
Access to data is an important concern when gathering data for a modeling
project and deciding which outputs and data from the model to publish. Data
access is a contentious issue in ecological modeling and many other scientific
fields, such as medicine and engineering (Fayerweather et al. 1991; Walter
and Richards 2000). Mandatory data sharing for regulatory compliance, for
example with the Freedom of Information Act, and grant or funding-source
requirements also play a role in determining which data are made available
to the public. No sharing, voluntary sharing, and selective sharing are also
choices available to the modeler (Fayerweather et al. 1991). For an ecological modeler, the type of data sharing, choice of which data to publish, and the
format in which the data are published are important concerns.
10.6.1 Information versus Data
The term “data” can apply to many inputs and outputs of the modeling
process. Raw field data, remote-sensing data, and processed data from the
output of a model can all be inputs into an ecological model. Therefore, in
terms of data access, it is important to consider what data from the modeling process should be made available. Sharing information produced from
the modeling process does not necessarily include sharing raw data. Publishing raw data may be overwhelming, especially with large quantities of
remote-sensing data, and provides little information to users accessing the
data if they are unable to recreate the model. Publishing model outputs or
analyses of the outputs provides users with more understandable information but may not convey the assumptions or uncertainties of the model,
which could lead to the misuse of the model outputs.
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David Hohler et al.
In today’s world, data access across a network or the Internet is becoming
an important issue. Providing access to databases for a large number of
users requires building databases that are well documented, easy to understand, and protected. Many software solutions exist for serving data to users
across a network. The setup of these data servers should provide good
service but should also protect the data from unintentional changes. Data
managers should be the only ones able to modify the data. Edits or additions to the database should have well-documented procedures.
Providing full access to a database may not be what is always needed. In
some cases, databases should be protected with passwords or user privileges
that would prevent full-read access to all of the data. When providing
network access, the bandwidth of the provider should be considered. The
server must be able to provide the data to users at a rate that is satisfactory and economical.
10.6 Data Access Concerns
Access to data is an important concern when gathering data for a modeling
project and deciding which outputs and data from the model to publish. Data
access is a contentious issue in ecological modeling and many other scientific
fields, such as medicine and engineering (Fayerweather et al. 1991; Walter
and Richards 2000). Mandatory data sharing for regulatory compliance, for
example with the Freedom of Information Act, and grant or funding-source
requirements also play a role in determining which data are made available
to the public. No sharing, voluntary sharing, and selective sharing are also
choices available to the modeler (Fayerweather et al. 1991). For an ecological modeler, the type of data sharing, choice of which data to publish, and the
format in which the data are published are important concerns.
10.6.1 Information versus Data
The term “data” can apply to many inputs and outputs of the modeling
process. Raw field data, remote-sensing data, and processed data from the
output of a model can all be inputs into an ecological model. Therefore, in
terms of data access, it is important to consider what data from the modeling process should be made available. Sharing information produced from
the modeling process does not necessarily include sharing raw data. Publishing raw data may be overwhelming, especially with large quantities of
remote-sensing data, and provides little information to users accessing the
data if they are unable to recreate the model. Publishing model outputs or
analyses of the outputs provides users with more understandable information but may not convey the assumptions or uncertainties of the model,
which could lead to the misuse of the model outputs.
202
David Hohler et al.