How to Make the Dream Come True: The Astronomers' Data Manifesto

Astronomy is one of the most data-intensive of the sciences. Data technology is accelerating the quality and effectiveness of its research, and the rate of astronomical discovery is higher than ever. As a result, many view astronomy as being in a "Golden Age," and projects such as the Virt...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ray P Norris
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ubiquity Press 2007-03-01
Series:Data Science Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:http://datascience.codata.org/articles/397
Description
Summary:Astronomy is one of the most data-intensive of the sciences. Data technology is accelerating the quality and effectiveness of its research, and the rate of astronomical discovery is higher than ever. As a result, many view astronomy as being in a "Golden Age," and projects such as the Virtual Observatory are amongst the most ambitious data projects in any field of science. But these powerful tools will be impotent unless the data on which they operate are of matching quality. Astronomy, like other fields of science, therefore needs to establish and agree on a set of guiding principles for the management of astronomical data. To focus this process, we are constructing a "data manifesto," which proposes guidelines to maximise the rate and cost-effectiveness of scientific discovery.
ISSN:1683-1470