A ‘demonstrator’ for the National Geosciences Data Index

Abstract

Asurvey of usersof geosciences data in Great Britain,carried out as part of the Databank Pilot Study jointly supported by the Department of the Environment and the British Geological Survey, indicated a priority requirement for a central geosciences data index. The consultations suggested that the system should contain information about the sources,accessibility and nature of data held in both centralized and widely-distributed collections. To illustrate to users how such a system would appear in its final implementation, and in order to refine the system's specification, the British Geological Survey developed, 011 an Intergraph Interpro 32 Workstation, a working demonstration of a 'user-friendly', interactive graphical index, capable of satisfying the requirements of a wide range of users of geosciences data This paper describes the development of the 'demonstrator', its structure, content and implementation, and the benefits of adopting such an approach.

Geoscience after IT

“…Examples can be found in Australia (Australian Geodynamics Cooperative Research Centre, 2000), France (BRGM, 2000), Canada (Lithoprobe, 2000) and the United Kingdom (Adlam et al, 1988). Their concern is to convey knowledge of the consequence of geological and related processes, states and events in geological time and space.…”