PV 2005

The Royal Society, Edinburgh

21-23 November 2005

Digital | Curation | Centre

Ensuring Long-term Preservation and Adding Value to Scientific and Technical data
(PV 2005)

new Final poster papers and presentations are now available.

Programme Committee

David Giaretta, UK Digital Curation Centre RAL, UK (Chair)
William L Anderson, Praxis 101, USA
David Corney, CCLRC, UK
Didier Courtaud, CEA, France
Michael Day, UKOLN, University of Bath, UK
John Faundeen, U.S. Geological Survey, USA
Rachel Heery, UKOLN, University of Bath, UK
Claude Huc, CNES, France
Gian Maria Pinna, ESA/ESRIN, Frascati, Italy
Patrick Mazal, CNES, France
Eberhard Mikusch, DLR, Germany
Seamus Ross, University of Glasgow, UK
Don Sawyer, NASA/GSFC, USA

Organizing Committee

Natasha Bishop, UKOLN, University of Bath, UK
Lee Callaghan, NeSC, UK
Bridget Robinson, UKOLN, University of Bath, UK

Presentation and Objectives of the Symposium

Title: Ensuring long-term preservation and adding value to scientific and technical data

This conference is the third of a series on long-term preservation and adding value to scientific data, begun in 2002 in France. Over the past several years the importance of this topic has been recognised increasingly widely and the term "digital curation" has come into use which covers similar ideas.

The vulnerability of digital data is a major concern. Storage hardware and access software change on a timescale of 3 years or so, while if we look over a decade or more then the knowledge and software base of potential users which a data holder can rely on will also change drastically. This means that extraordinary efforts must be made to ensure that the information that is held remains understandable to users, and especially when one includes automated processes within the term "users".

Much scientific and technical data is kept because it is the record of observations or phenomena which will never happen again, because it is part of a long time series or because it forms part of the heritage which future generations will wish to understand. Data managers are therefore increasingly required to ensure the long-term preservation and to add value to data as an integral part of their responsibilities. What technological, methodological, standardizing and economic prospects are now opening up in this field? These will be some of the issues addressed during the symposium.

Each conference also has, in addition to general areas, a particular theme. It seems timely for this conference to encourage contributions from the areas of e-Science and digital libraries, where there is a great deal of relevant work underway.

Main topics

1. Ensuring long-term data preservation

State of the art of data archiving and access techniques, for example:

what standardization has to offer (in the form of feedback from experience),
adapting archiving techniques to the different categories of information handled, such as scientific data, technical data, documents, sounds and images,
system architecture in the context of constant technological developments

Lines of technological research,

2. Adding value to data

State of the art of techniques used to add value to data (description of data and associated services)
The operational use of systems (services provided for users, value added services, etc.)

3. Lessons Learnt

Examples of working systems which claim to provide digital curation services, and the lessons that can be derived from them.
The operational use of archives (inserts and updates, migration of media, etc.)

4. Future Prospects

What services will be needed in future to support digital curation
Anticipating future users' needs

Encouraged focus areas:

e-Science and Digital Libraries

Requirements for curation from e-Science and Digital Libraries
Application of curation techniques in e-Science and Digital Libraries

Important Dates

General Information

Venue:

The conference will take place at The Royal Society in Edinburgh, UK. The venue is ideally situated in the centre of Edinburgh and provides all the facilities necessary for a conference of this nature.

Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city, is a thriving financial and commercial centre, the site of the new Scottish Parliament and a gateway to the coastline, hills and open country of the Scottish Highlands. Over 2 million visitors annually come not only for the architecture, but for a city rich in social, cultural, learning and sporting facilities. Each year the city plays host to internationally renowned events such as the Edinburgh International Arts, Fringe, Film, TV and Science Festivals.

Transport:

Edinburgh has excellent transport links with the rest of the world. Edinburgh International Airport is 12km (8 miles) west of the city centre and is easy to reach with a regular Airlink Coach service and good taxi services.

There are over 40 flights from London to Edinburgh every day and the average flight time, capital to capital, is about an hour. There are also regular services to Edinburgh from other major UK airports and frequent scheduled flights from 40 European airports - from Amsterdam to Zurich.

If you're heading to the city from the other side of the Atlantic, Continental Airlines offer a daily flight form New York's Newark airport direct to Edinburgh. Plus many transatlantic flights land at Glasgow International Airport, just an hour's drive away.

For further information on travelling to Edinburgh please visit: http://www.edinburgh.org/traveltips/

Accommodation:

Hotel accommodation can be arranged through the conference booking system to obtain discounted rates.

Registration fee

The registration fee for the conference will be £140 (200 Euros) The registration fee includes attendance at all conference sessions, all refreshments and a place at the conference dinner on 22 November. Limited additional conference dinner tickets are available at a cost of £50. Registration is now open.

Organization

The symposium will consist of plenary sessions. The language for the conference will be English.

Publications

The symposium proceedings will be available to each participant on the opening day.

Further information

For any further information please contact Natasha Bishop at UKOLN.

Tel: +44 (0) 1225 386256
Fax: +44 (0) 1225 386838
n.bishop@ukoln.ac.uk

Other UKOLN Events

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