8,275 research outputs found
FAIRness and Usability for Open-access Omics Data Systems
Omics data sharing is crucial to the biological research community, and the last decade or two has seen a huge rise in collaborative analysis systems, databases, and knowledge bases for omics and other systems biology data. We assessed the FAIRness of NASAs GeneLab Data Systems (GLDS) along with four similar kinds of systems in the research omics data domain, using 14 FAIRness metrics. The range of overall FAIRness scores was 6-12 (out of 14), average 10.1, and standard deviation 2.4. The range of Pass ratings for the metrics was 29-79%, Partial Pass 0-21%, and Fail 7-50%. The systems we evaluated performed the best in the areas of data findability and accessibility, and worst in the area of data interoperability. Reusability of metadata, in particular, was frequently not well supported. We relate our experiences implementing semantic integration of omics data from some of the assessed systems for federated querying and retrieval functions, given their shortcomings in data interoperability. Finally, we propose two new principles that Big Data system developers, in particular, should consider for maximizing data accessibility
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Open Science principles for accelerating trait-based science across the Tree of Life.
Synthesizing trait observations and knowledge across the Tree of Life remains a grand challenge for biodiversity science. Species traits are widely used in ecological and evolutionary science, and new data and methods have proliferated rapidly. Yet accessing and integrating disparate data sources remains a considerable challenge, slowing progress toward a global synthesis to integrate trait data across organisms. Trait science needs a vision for achieving global integration across all organisms. Here, we outline how the adoption of key Open Science principles-open data, open source and open methods-is transforming trait science, increasing transparency, democratizing access and accelerating global synthesis. To enhance widespread adoption of these principles, we introduce the Open Traits Network (OTN), a global, decentralized community welcoming all researchers and institutions pursuing the collaborative goal of standardizing and integrating trait data across organisms. We demonstrate how adherence to Open Science principles is key to the OTN community and outline five activities that can accelerate the synthesis of trait data across the Tree of Life, thereby facilitating rapid advances to address scientific inquiries and environmental issues. Lessons learned along the path to a global synthesis of trait data will provide a framework for addressing similarly complex data science and informatics challenges
Towards a service-oriented e-infrastructure for multidisciplinary environmental research
Research e-infrastructures are considered to have generic and thematic parts. The generic part provids high-speed networks, grid (large-scale distributed computing) and database systems (digital repositories and data transfer systems) applicable to all research commnities irrespective of discipline. Thematic parts are specific deployments of e-infrastructures to support diverse virtual research communities. The needs of a virtual community of multidisciplinary envronmental researchers are yet to be investigated. We envisage and argue for an e-infrastructure that will enable environmental researchers to develop environmental models and software entirely out of existing components through loose coupling of diverse digital resources based on the service-oriented achitecture. We discuss four specific aspects for consideration for a future e-infrastructure: 1) provision of digital resources (data, models & tools) as web services, 2) dealing with stateless and non-transactional nature of web services using workflow management systems, 3) enabling web servce discovery, composition and orchestration through semantic registries, and 4) creating synergy with existing grid infrastructures
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Transforming Technical Services: Evolving Functions in Large Research University Libraries
Technical services functions in academic libraries have evolved in response to fiscal pressures and advances in technology. In this study the author investigates how technical services in large research university libraries are adapting to support
the changing roles of academic libraries. The author conducted hour-long phone interviews in early 2014 with the representatives from nineteen out of the twenty-five university libraries in the Technical Services Directors Large
Research Libraries Interest Group. This paper presents the results and discussion based on the interview data: use of the name, Technical Services; new and emerging functions of technical services; organizational structure of technical services
units; change drivers that are affecting technical services now, and those that will soon; and challenges in managing technical services. Five models of a technical services organizational structure were developed from participants’ organizational
charts and interview data. This research also highlights the skills needed among technical services personnel.UT Librarie
Report of the user requirements and web based access for eResearch workshops
The User Requirements and Web Based Access for eResearch Workshop, organized jointly by NeSC and NCeSS, was held on 19 May 2006. The aim was to identify lessons learned from e-Science projects that would contribute to our capacity to make Grid infrastructures and tools usable and accessible for diverse user communities. Its focus was on providing an opportunity for a pragmatic discussion between e-Science end users
and tool builders in order to understand usability challenges, technological options, community-specific content and needs, and methodologies for design and development. We invited members of six UK e-Science projects and one US project, trying as far as
possible to pair a user and developer from each project in order to discuss their contrasting perspectives and experiences. Three breakout group sessions covered the
topics of user-developer relations, commodification, and functionality. There was also extensive post-meeting discussion, summarized here.
Additional information on the workshop, including the agenda, participant list, and talk slides, can be found online at http://www.nesc.ac.uk/esi/events/685/
Reference: NeSC report UKeS-2006-07 available from http://www.nesc.ac.uk/technical_papers/UKeS-2006-07.pd
High Energy Physics Forum for Computational Excellence: Working Group Reports (I. Applications Software II. Software Libraries and Tools III. Systems)
Computing plays an essential role in all aspects of high energy physics. As
computational technology evolves rapidly in new directions, and data throughput
and volume continue to follow a steep trend-line, it is important for the HEP
community to develop an effective response to a series of expected challenges.
In order to help shape the desired response, the HEP Forum for Computational
Excellence (HEP-FCE) initiated a roadmap planning activity with two key
overlapping drivers -- 1) software effectiveness, and 2) infrastructure and
expertise advancement. The HEP-FCE formed three working groups, 1) Applications
Software, 2) Software Libraries and Tools, and 3) Systems (including systems
software), to provide an overview of the current status of HEP computing and to
present findings and opportunities for the desired HEP computational roadmap.
The final versions of the reports are combined in this document, and are
presented along with introductory material.Comment: 72 page
Considering Human Aspects on Strategies for Designing and Managing Distributed Human Computation
A human computation system can be viewed as a distributed system in which the
processors are humans, called workers. Such systems harness the cognitive power
of a group of workers connected to the Internet to execute relatively simple
tasks, whose solutions, once grouped, solve a problem that systems equipped
with only machines could not solve satisfactorily. Examples of such systems are
Amazon Mechanical Turk and the Zooniverse platform. A human computation
application comprises a group of tasks, each of them can be performed by one
worker. Tasks might have dependencies among each other. In this study, we
propose a theoretical framework to analyze such type of application from a
distributed systems point of view. Our framework is established on three
dimensions that represent different perspectives in which human computation
applications can be approached: quality-of-service requirements, design and
management strategies, and human aspects. By using this framework, we review
human computation in the perspective of programmers seeking to improve the
design of human computation applications and managers seeking to increase the
effectiveness of human computation infrastructures in running such
applications. In doing so, besides integrating and organizing what has been
done in this direction, we also put into perspective the fact that the human
aspects of the workers in such systems introduce new challenges in terms of,
for example, task assignment, dependency management, and fault prevention and
tolerance. We discuss how they are related to distributed systems and other
areas of knowledge.Comment: 3 figures, 1 tabl
Planets: Integrated Services for Digital Preservation
The Planets Project is developing services and technology to address core challenges in digital preservation. This article introduces the motivation for this work, describes the extensible technical architecture and places the Planets approach into the context of the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model. It also provides a scenario demonstrating Planets’ usefulness in solving real-life digital preservation problems and an overview of the project’s progress to date
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