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<p>Hello Mark, Ruth and Øystein -</p>
<p>Thanks for a well-reasoned, somewhat provocative essay. It
deserves to get widely read. An appropriate journal doesn't leap
to mind, but I suspect others will have suggestions.</p>
<p>I was working in the EOSDIS Core System Science Office before
launch of the first EOS satellite and from what I recall GCMD and
EOSDIS began and evolved somewhat in parallel. The motivation for
GCMD was to "facilitate interactions among science data cataloging
systems" and it was the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites
Data Working Group (CEOS-DWG) that sponsored the initial
implementation of the International Directory Network (IDN) which
became the GCMD. I may not have the exact details correct, but the
statement "The GCMD was developed to support the launch of ...
EOS." is probably incorrect.<br>
</p>
<p>Also of interest, and perhaps worth noting, is that initially the
GCMD had "Socioeconomic" keywords contributed by CIESIN. These
included, e.g. <br>
</p>
<blockquote><font face="Courier New, Courier, monospace">Population
Dynamics > Demographic Characteristics > ethnicity</font><br>
<font face="Courier New, Courier, monospace">Human Attitudes,
Preferences, and Behavior > Social Behavior > resistance
to change</font><br>
<font face="Courier New, Courier, monospace">Human and
Environmental Health > Physiological Parameters >
digestive physiology </font><br>
<font face="Courier New, Courier, monospace">Environmental
Protection > Biota > plankton</font><br>
</blockquote>
<p>which might have covered some of the needs in IPY, but I don't
know what happened to these keywords. Also, note that originally,
and for many years, there were only what is now called "science
keywords" but at that time was called the "GCMD Parameter Valids".<br>
</p>
<p>In terms of "lessons learned", it might be worth discussing the
reasons behind the observation that "SWEET has also not been
broadly embraced by Earth science data centers as a standard
ontology or vocabulary service."</p>
<p>If and when you do submit the paper to a journal, you're welcome
to suggest me as a reviewer.</p>
Best wishes,<br>
SiriJodha<br>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/27/21 4:07 PM, Mark Parsons via
esip-semanticweb wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:66A6653F-F4DC-4EE4-ACE9-F098DACEADDC@icloud.com">
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">Dear Semanticists,
Some of you may be interested in this ethnographic tale of the development and evolution of the GCMD keywords.
We would welcome any feedback on the essay, including possible journal suggestions for where it could be submitted.
Parsons, Mark A., Duerr, Ruth, & Godøy, Øystein. (2021). The Evolution of GCMD Keywords — An instructive tale of data standards development and adoption. <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4818237">http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4818237</a>
Abstract
NASA established the Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) and supporting keywords in the early 1990s as part of implementing the GCMD through the Directory Interchange Format or DIF. The GCMD was developed to support the launch of the huge and enduring satellite-based Earth Observing System (EOS). The primary intent was to catalog EOS and related data, but the keywords have been implemented in many different systems and adopted in varying ways by many different organizations around the world. This essay provides an ethnographic examination of how the keywords have evolved and been managed and how they have been adopted over the last few decades. It illustrates how semantic approaches have evolved over time and provides insights on how standards and associated processes can be sustained and adaptable. Ongoing institutional commitment is essential, but so is transparency and technical flexibility. Understanding the different roles involved in standards creation, maintenance, and use of standards as well as the services that standards enable is also critical. It is apparent that semantic representations need to be mindful of different contexts and carefully define verbs as well nouns and categories. Understanding and representing relationships is central to interdisciplinary interoperability.
cheers,
-m.
Mark A. Parsons
Research Scientist
University of Alabama in Huntsville
+1 303 941 9986
Mail: 1550 Linden Ave, Boulder, CO 80304, USA
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7723-0950">https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7723-0950</a>
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</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Siri-Jodha Singh KHALSA, Ph.D., SMIEEE
National Snow and Ice Data Center
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0449
Traditional Territories of the Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute Nations
Office: 1-303-492-1445 GV: 1-303-736-9976 EU: +420 608 720 281
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9217-5550">http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9217-5550</a>
</pre>
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