GRIIDC Launches Website Making Gulf of Mexico Data More Accessible to Researchers and the Public
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX - GRIIDC, a multidisciplinary data repository managed by the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (HRI) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, has launched a new website that allows users to quickly search a catalog of over 3,400 datasets representing 170 TB of research data produced by thousands of scientific studies. Through GRIIDC, HRI is leading the Gulf of Mexico scientific community in advancing the open sharing of data.
GRIIDC stores data from numerous fields of study including biology, chemistry, physical oceanography, sociology, political science, and public health. Data within the repository are primarily collected or generated from the Gulf of Mexico. GRIIDC hosts data from research institutions such as HRI, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program, the Mississippi Based Center of Excellence, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program.
Rosalie Rossi, GRIIDC’s Program Manager, says that the new website features an updated dataset information form (DIF), submission page, dataset landing pages, and dataset monitoring page but the functionality of each remains the same. The home page displays news, GRIIDC statistics, and featured datasets.
“The website's updated appearance brings a clean and contemporary feel, allowing users to easily access our three primary functions of searching, submitting, and monitoring data,” Rossi said. “The addition of a search bar on the home page not only highlights but also simplifies users' access to over 3,000 datasets, facilitating easy search and download.”
Website users can download data for free or store data for a fee. GRIIDC promotes FAIR data principles, ensuring data are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. GRIIDC features also ensure researchers receive credit for their datasets by issuing a digital object identifier, creating detailed metadata, and providing a recommended dataset citation on the dataset’s landing page. Data are linked with associated publications providing a connection between the two resources and enhancing findability for both.
GRIIDC provides researchers with a variety of tools to help manage data throughout the lifecycle of a project. Training is provided via webinars and guidance documents, as well as through one-on-one help. GRIIDC also helps researchers with data management planning and requires researchers to submit a dataset information form before collecting data for each dataset. Datasets are curated by subject matter experts who ensure data are well-described, do not contain copyrighted materials, are in non-proprietary formats, and contain all data necessary to reproduce the dataset. GRIIDC staff work with researchers to obtain the necessary metadata and raw data produced from a project.
Those who are interested in data management and storage services can contact GRIIDC at help@griidc.org.