Global Change Related Data Policy Milestones

and

Associated USGCRP Actions

November 2002

Global Change Related Data Policy Milestones
(As of November 2002)

1966

The Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, provided that any person has the right to request access to federal agency records or information if requested, except for those that are protected by exemptions or exclusions. Further that they must be available promptly and for no more than the cost of their provision. This right is enforceable in the courts. Since 1996, FOIA has had many updates. The most recent version of FOIA is at http://usdoj.gov/foia.foiastat.htm/.

Importance: FOIA established the principle backed by law that the public has the right to obtain copies of the records and information held by the federal government.

1987

The ad hoc Interagency Working Group on Data Management for Global Change, IWGDMGC, was originated primarily by NASA, NSF, USGS, and NOAA. Other agencies joined and the NAS/NRC Committee on Geophysical and Environmental Data, CGED, actively participated.

Importance: This was the first high-level interagency group formed for the specific purpose of addressing interagency global change related data management needs and concerns.

1990

The Global Change Research Act was approved by the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Global Change Research Program, USGCRP, initiated. Most of the leaders of the IWGDMGC were also the leaders for their agency of the USGCRP. (Over time the IWGDMGC became the USGCRP Data and Information Working Group, DIWG.)

Importance: In addition to bringing increased focus on global change issues, including data management issues, the USGCRP provided a formal means by which the IWGDMGC's data management recommendations could be forwarded to the head of OSTP for implementing actions.

1990

OMB issued Circular No. A-16. (Updated in 2002.) (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a16/a16_rev.html)

Importance: This circular provided directions for improvements in the coordination and use of spatial data by federal agencies by the establishment of policies and standards as well as for an interagency Federal Geographic Data Committee. FGDC, and a data Clearinghouse. An important objective of these policies and standards was to make possible the interoperability of federal information systems so a user could readily use data from multiple federal agencies.

1991

The Director of OSTP issued the "Data Management for Global Change Policy Statements." (http://globalchange.gov/policies/diwg/dmwg-gcp.html)

Importance: These Statements were the U.S Government's first published position on the many issues related to access to its global change research data. Included was the policy of "full and open" access which was subsequently adopted widely both nationally and internationally. (http://globalchange.gov/policies/diwg/dmwg-fando.html)

1993

OMB revision of Circular A-130. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a130/a130trans4.html)

Importance: Included in this revision were federal agency implementation guidance and requirements consistent with the 1991 Data Policy statements above.

1993

OMB issued Circular No. A-110 (updated 1997) (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a110/a110.html)

Importance: These standards for federal agency grant management include the requirement that the grantee provide the funding agency the data and information developed on the grant. (http://globalchange.gov/policies/diwg/dmwg-grants.html)

1995

The NAS/NRC Committee on Geophysical and Environmental Data, CGED, published it's report "On the Full and Open Exchange of Scientific Data". (http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/exch/exch.html)

1996

The Presidents of the National Academies of Science and Engineering with that of the Institute of Medicine sent the Administration a letter raising serious concerns about the pending U.S. approval of World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, treaty provisions seriously restricting "full and open" exchange of data. (http://globalchange.gov/policies/nas-wipo.html)

Importance: At this time the U.S. "full and open" data policy, see 1991 and 1993 above, were under attack both internationally by WIPO and nationally in the Congress. This 1995 document and following 1996 letter, combined with federal agency administrative-type actions, helped to largely stop this potentially serious impact on U.S. researchers.

1997

The DIWG initiated and drafted the first set of guidelines for citing data sets. The data set citation format was similar to that used for journal articles and was endorsed by the USGCRP. (see Attachment)

Importance: These citation guidelines made it possible to cite specific data sets in publications and in data set compilations, placed minimum requirements on data set providers to maximize their use, were interoperable with journal article citations as the line between data and information blurs, and provided recognition for data producers similar to that given researchers by journal publication citations. Their use included the 1997, 98, 99, 00, and 01 USGCRP publications of newly available datasets related to global change. (http://globalchange.gov/data/datasets.html)

2001

OMB issued Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal agencies. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/final_information_quality_guidelines.html)

Importance: These guidelines aimed at maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the data and information made available by an agency and included administrative procedures for implementation of the guidelines.

2001

The General Services Administration issued Federal Acquisition Regulation Section 508. (http//section508.nasa.gov/documents/doc_FAR.htm)

Importance: These regulations are aimed at assuring that the handicapped also have useable access to federal data and information systems.

2002

The DIWG issued data guidelines for the US Global Change Research Program. (http://globalchange.gov/policies/diwg/diwg-guidelines.html)

Importance: These guidelines both (1) integrated the various individual data polices developed in the past decade with the 1991 Global Change Policy Statements and (2) provided a guide for how agencies should try to even further improve their service to the data user community.

Attachment

Guidelines for Data Set Citations

Agencies are encouraged to announce significant data sets as they become available during the monthly DMWG meetings. If possible, these new data sets should be formally submitted monthly or quarterly to GCDIS. Minimally, all new data sets for the calendar year should be submitted by the second week of January, following the year they are released.

Subject Categories and their mouseover descriptions:

Agriculture - Crops, Forestry, Livestock, Plants, Soils

Atmosphere - Aerosols, Atmospheric chemistry, Climate, Clouds, Weather

Biosphere - Ecology, Vegetation, Wetlands, Zoology

Carbon - Atmospheric carbon, Ocean carbon, Sequestration, Soil carbon

Cryosphere - Glaciers, Ice, Snow

Geology - Earthquakes, Earth's structure, Gravity, Magnetic fields, Non-renewable resources, Volcanoes

Human Dimensions - Economic effects, Environmental effects, Human health

Hydrosphere - Ground water, Precipitation, Surface water, Water quality

Land Surface - Erosion, Land cover, Land type, Land use, Topography

Oceans - Coastal processes, Circulation, Resources, Temperature, Waves

Paleoclimate - Historical records, Ice, land, and ocean cores

Solar Physics - Energetic particles, Solar activity, Solar radiations

Suggested data set format:

1. Author(s) <last name, first name or initial>
2. Title
3. Organization from which data set is available
4. Date of release <month, year>

   If available:

5. url for data set access
6. Suggestions for the data set's subject category(s) for indexing help

   Additionally if desired:

7. url link to GCMD or other site that provides a description of the data set
8. Funding agency
9. For GCDIS news items, url for its access with a newspaper-type description and graphic.

Example.

Dai, A., Fung, I.Y. and A.D. del Genio. Surface Observed Global Land Precipitation Variations During 1900-1988. NASA/GISS. 1997
(http://www.giss.nasa.gov/data/adai/)