International Council for Science - World Data Center System

D. Summary of the Activities of World Data Centers

The following list expands on the formal responsibilities of WDCs, as listed in Section A above, and gives further examples of WDC activities. The list does not claim to be exhaustive.

1 Collecting and cataloguing data and information in cooperation with other WDCs.

2 Maintaining the data in good condition.

3 Providing data to users, at minimum costs of copying and distribution.

4 Working with originators of data to improve documentation of the data.

5 Preserving important old data sets by converting them from tabular to digital form.

6 Compiling specialized data sets for small-scale, regional and global geophysical research.

7 Making data sets available on such media as compact discs, enabling users to search large data collections and transfer them to their home laboratory.

8 Assessing technical issues of aging, error growth and lifetimes of data storage media.

9 Combining data from various sources to derive data products, such as indices of solar or geomagnetic activity.

10 Compiling numerical models to describe the time-varying and space-varying geophysical environment, such as the geomagnetic field and the upper atmosphere.

11 Maintaining on-line information services related to the above activities.

12 Operating visitor programs to enable scientists to work on WDC data holdings with the assistance of the WDCs' professional staff.

13 Assisting scientists to locate and access related data not held in the WDC System.