Internet users now have access to a prototype of the LTER bibliography database, which includes records from 15 sites
The completion of the initial phase of the LTER Network All-Site Bibliography Project, and the implementation of a prototype on the LTERnet information server, mark major steps toward the goal of providing Internet users with access to bibliography records from all LTER sites. Development of the database prototype, which is located at the LTER Network Office in Seattle, Washington, provides partial achievement of the Project goal. For frill achievement in the long term, a distributed database may be developed, with each site maintaining a local version in a standard format searchable on-line from any of the other sites.
For the prototype, research assistant Harvey Chinn, under the guidance of LTER Research Coordinator Caroline Bledsoe and with the assistance of the site data managers and Rudolf Nottrott at the LTER Network Office, compiled text versions of the bibliographic databases for 15 sites and wrote a set of programs to rearrange them into a common format. In the next stage of the Project, Rudolf Nottrott will maintain the database at the Network Office with help from site data managers.
Ultimately, a distributed system will allow more reliable and consistent maintenance of the database. For future development, discussions are underway about the feasibility of adding abstract, and including non-LTER-funded publications of LTER personnel, as well as site- related publications produced prior to LTER funding.
To search the bibliography prototype, follow the procedure for searching the Core Dataset Catalog, outlined on the previous page.
For more information:
Caroline Bledsoe, University of California-Davis, 916-752-0388, cBledsoe@LTERnet.edu, or Rudolf Nottrott, LTER Network Office, 206-543-8492, rNottrott@LTERnet.edu.