Big Opportunities in Access to "Small Science" Data

Introduction Data is the lifeblood of science. Researchers, government institutions, non-profit organizations, schools, commercial organizations, and individual citizens all need the widest possible access to data from all sources to explore, experiment, test, create new knowledge and new products, and, ultimately, to increase understanding of our world. Access to data, put simply, is crucial to the future development of science and society. There are a number of initiatives underway to make scientific data accessible to other scientists and, in some cases, to the public, without the user needing to obtain prior permission from the data owner/provider. To date, these initiatives generally have been discipline specific, and have in many cases developed their own tools for storing, searching, and accessing data relevant to the discipline. They have also generally been focused on what Paul F. Uhlir and Peter Schröder have referred to as “big science” rather than “‘small science’ research endeavors, performed by a single investigator or small group.” (Uhlir and Schröder) To scientific data generated by these “small science” researchers, we would add data generated for purposes “besides science” that would be of value to scientists if available to them. “Besides science” data refers to data collected by those who are not usually seen as professional academic or institutional scientific researchers but who generate technical or observational data of scientific value.