Welcome to the Astrodata discussion page.
This is a web-based discussion area for the
AstroData project which has the goals of:
- Putting together a set of recommendations (the "Data Management Framework") for how astronomical data should be managed,
- Organising the Special Session on "Astronomical Data Management" at the IAU XXVI General Assembly in Prague in 2006,
The rationale for this project, and this discussion, is contained in
this paper which appeared in IAU Bulletin # 96.
The discussion is split into seven topics (plus one pseudo-topic), listed below, each of which has its own chair. To view or join in any discussion, just click on the link below (e.g.
JournalData).
- Topic 00: DataCuration A posting of the email discussion in March/April 2006 triggered by the Nature paper by Szalay and Gray.
- Topic 1: OpenAccess - Alignment with OECD, ICSU, and IAU recommendations regarding open access to astronomical data. Close collaboration with colleagues in ICSU, CODATA, and other branches of science, especially when developing strategies to prevent excessive legal or IP ownership constraints being imposed on astronomical data. Chair: RayNorris
- Topic 2: NewProjects - Recognition of the importance of considering data processing, storage, and management needs from the conception stage of a new project. Chair: DavidSchade
- Topic 3: DigitalDivide - Provisions to ensure equitable access to data and information by scientists in developing countries (or in underprivileged sections of developed countries). Chair: Guenther Eichhorn
- Topic 4: JournalData - Development of better processes to enable data in journals to be integrated in to data centres and the VO. Chair: AnitaRichards
- Topic 5: SafeGuard - Development of protocols for the long-term curation, preservation, and migration (between formats or media) of data, including validation and quality flagging. Chair: Elizabeth Griffin
- Topic 8: PracticeDiscussion - Unfocussed discussion for those who want to want to experiment with twiki discussion techniques. Feel free to discuss the weather, football, whatever. Chair: Anybody
New Users
The main e-discussion will take place on a wiki page, which is a web page that anybody can edit. This concept may seem a little scary if you aren't used to writing web pages, but in fact it is as easy as sending an email. No special skills or expertise are required.
In addition, some discussion chairs may choose to set up threaded email discussions, the outcomes of which will appear on the wiki pages.
To start being an active participant in the e-discussions, can I please ask you to do the following.
1) Register yourself as a user if you haven't already done so (see "user registration" on the left of this page.) If you are already a participant in the IVOA twiki you don't need to re-register.
2) Go to
Sandbox, click on "edit" at the top, and practice changing some things. Preview and then save your changes. Don't worry - this is a "sandbox" which has been set up just for you to experiment on. It doesn't matter if you delete or change anything on this page. The level of expertise you'll gain by doing this is as much as many people will need to participate effectively in the e-discussions.
3) If you want to become a power user of the wiki, spend 20 minutes reading the twiki tutorial (see the link on the left of this page) if you aren't already familiar with twiki.
4) Decide which topics you'd like to be involved in (as many or as few as you like), and put your name on the relevant list under "Topic members" on the relevant topic page.
5) Feel free to edit anything else you feel needs fixing up on the entire
AstroData wiki site - that is how wiki works!
Other links for the AstroData project:
Timetable
- 2005 October 10 Deadline for submitting further details of the SpecialSession to the IAU
- 2006 May 15 Deadline for submitting resolutions to the IAU to be put before the General Assembly
- 2006 June 26 Deadline for receipt of abstracts for talks for the IAU General Assembly
- 2006 August 22 (p.m) Special Session on "Astronomical Data Management" at the IAU XXVI General Assembly, Prague.
Other useful links:
