Libraries supporting e-Science : combining cultures

Abstract

e-Science is defined as science performed through distributed global collaborations enabled by the Internet, using very large data collections, terascale computing resources and high performance visualizations. The ability to utilize these more powerful computing resources across a new infrastructure commonly described as the 'grid' will ultimately lead to scientists tackling the 'big scientific questions'.
In order to address the next generation of scientific problems, high volume scientific data will need to be analyzed, organized, curated, disseminated and preserved. This will require an increasing collaboration between scientists, data managers and information managers. A vital part of the developing research infrastructure will be digital repositories linking publications, data and multimedia in a scholarly knowledge cycle.
Traditionally, the information and data communities have developed along parallel though not converging lines, but changing attitudes towards open access to the results of scientific research have resulted in new partnerships in which librarians and information managers are working with the data community on new information products. Information management skills: standards, metadata, ontologies, rights management, discovery services, preservation and particularly service provision are now being accepted as a vital underpinning to the success of the e-Science agenda. Are librarians ready to step up to the plate?

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