Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I offer my data to the DPDC?
By making published diatom data available, the Diatom Paleolimnology Data Cooperative hopes to foster innovative and efficient uses of published data both within and outside the discipline. One example of this would be to go beyond the current region centered approach and make it possible for large calibration sets to be constructed from smaller ones and used for different purposes than originally envisioned - or perhaps smaller, targeted calibration sets might be investigated by combining subsets of data from various projects and regions. Cores can be reanalyzed and reinterpreted using new calibration sets, and pre-existing core data may for the first time be used for quantitative reconstructions. The biogeography of diatoms will be able to be visualized in interactive programs across space and time. Combining taxonomies may be a daunting task in using different datasets, but no more difficult than any initial study or trying to get funding to create a new large calibration data set.
A second reason is simply why you publish data - so that other scientists can use the knowledge you have developed. With diatom paleolimnological data archived in databases accessed by programs such as PaleoVu or SiteSeer, investigators interested in exploring a core location will be able to instantly view existing diatom diagrams, with literature references and other information by clicking on a site map.
The third reason is quite straightforward. Diatom paleolimnological results are simply not as widely used in the paleoclimatological community as they might be. The solution is to release our results in a usable fashion to other disciplines such as climate modelers and paleoclimatologists. The DPDC will make the data available in the same context as other proxy groups data cooperatives now sponsored by the NOAA and the NGDC.
What do I have to do to submit data to the DPDC?
First, let us know you have data you would like to contribute. Jump to the data submissions page and answer a few questions. We will contact you and discuss submission procedures (generally through ftp or mail attachments - whatever is easiest for the contributor). We will do most of the work to get the data into DPDC format - in most cases all you will be required to do is send us your electronic data files. Internet forms will be available for the contributor to enter important ancillary data.We are not funded to manipulate all sorts of data formats into the DPDC. Priority submissions to the DPDC will probably be ranked by a combination of importance to paleoclimatological research and ease of entering the submitted data format to the DPDC database. This will generally mean data already in spreadsheet or database form will get into the database more quickly.
My study did not concern paloclimatology, do you want it in the DPDC?
If your data concerns a diatom core or surface calibration set from lakes, wetlands, or estuaries somewhere in the western hemisphere and published in a peer-reviewed publication... there is probably some way that it is relevant to climate studies... and we would like to know about its availability.
Just how much of my data do you want?
We would like nearly everything., and the DPDC has been designed to hold nearly everything. However, at present, we are primarily concerned with the crucial minimal basic data.Minimal data required: raw diatom count info, associated taxon code lists if applicable, critical site information (lat/long, etc.), a publication reference, and information to contact the data contributor (you!). For surface sediment calibration sets, information about environmental variables will be required.
I have my data in several formats. Which is best for the DPDC?
For ease of entry, the easiest is a database format or corresponding spreadsheet where the data is in columnar format in a long list.Second easiest (and most common) is a spreadsheet matrix of interval versus taxaname in rows and columns, with raw counts filling the cells.
How will I be able to obtain the data in the DPDC?
All the ways in which the data from the DPDC might be available have yet to be decided, and in part depend on the needs of the diatom, paleolimnological, and paleoecological communities.ASCII files of each individual core or calibration set will be available for downloading. Data will be able to be accessed initially over the Internet by ftp and the WWW, and eventually on CD-ROM.
Furthermore, the various interactive programs currently available for the pollen and other paleoclimate proxy data from North America will also be available to view the DPDC diatom data. These include site-sensitive maps, instant diatom diagrams from cores, and other offerings yet to be decided. Interested parties should download the programs that view the pollen database (NAPD) at the Paleoclimatology Program Web site. This is where the DPDC will be available as well.
How can I ascertain the quality of the data?
The DPDC makes no independent assessment of data quality. We currently accept only published data and therefore the peer-review system is our principal guarantee of data quality. It is up to the user to judge the usefulness of data downloaded from the DPDC. We will enter the data as submitted by the contributors.
What about taxonomic consistency?
A NOAA sponsored workshop on taxonomic consistency in the context of forming this database was held in 1994 at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco hosted by J. Pat Kociolek. Participants recommended that due to limited resources, attempting to harmonize the taxonomies of contributed datasets should not be initially attempted. They further recommended that the data structure would allow for the future application of computer techniques to allow users to extract data using one or more taxonomic schemes. Therefore, in order to quickly meet the needs of the paleoclimatological community, the first priority for the DPDC was to form a flexible database structure and add as much basic data as possible.There are ongoing research projects which hold out the promise of increased consistency between laboratories regarding taxonomic consistency in identification and nomenclature. As taxonomic synonymy tables are computerized, their application to the existing structure of the DPDC will be a fairly straightforward database operation.
For the present, the current database structure is capable of recording extensive information about the taxonomic views of the contributing researchers - the reference used for each and every taxon entity can be recorded along with notes, location of slide archives, notes on synonymy, a contributor's sense of their overriding taxonomic philosophy, etc. There is room in the database to give a complete picture of the contributor's sense of taxonomy.
Is there a current 'taxonomy' being used by the DPDC?
No.The DPDC taxon list simply records all names (with authors) that are submitted to the database. In this sense, the contributors' taxonomy will always be preserved and retrievable in the basic data. These entries will contain 'errors' (of synonymy, nomenclature, misidentification, etc.) and, of course, simple differences of opinion with future users. Future investigators using the DPDC and attempting to combine data from different sources will have to take this into account.
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Last updated: 24 May, 1997
URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~diatom/dpdc/dpdcfaq.html
Page design and comments: P. Roger
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