The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission lias identified a 

 number of problems related to international sharing of data on the marine 

 environment, including- — • 



( 1 ) Improvement and consolidation of bibliographic and related in- 

 formation services; 



(2) Early exchange of plans and preliminary results of observational 

 programs ; 



(3) Integration of real-time exchange of oceanographic data with the 

 meteorological system; 



(4) Development of methods for storage and retrieval of biological, 

 geological and geophysical data ; 



(5) Automation of international data banks and improved pro- 

 grams and methods for making their contents available; 



(6) Development of standardized and/or computer-compatible 

 data formats; 



(7) Timely establishment or improvement of international inven- 

 tories of ocean data and samples and provision for centralized cata- 

 loging of sea data available from various private and public sources; 

 and 



(8) Strengthening the system of sorting centers for biological 

 material. 



Neither national nor international capabilities are adequate to facilitate 

 the exchange of the ever-increasing diversity and volumes of marine data 

 being generated by many nations. In preparation for the projects of the 

 IDOE, certain activities must be launched now to allow for eflfective utiliza- 

 tion of the platforms and scientists as well as for distribution and analysis of 

 the data. This preplanning takes on several aspects, each dependent on 

 supporting actions of national and international data centers. Among these 

 are the — 



( 1 ) Development of national and international directories of hold- 

 ings, and inventories of ongoing collection eflforts; 



(2) Evaluation of kinds of data products to be developed from 

 IDOE projects including atlases and computerized display systems; 



(3) Processing of data collected from foreign sources that bear on 

 new project areas ; 



(4) Extensive surveys of research literature covering selected IDOE 

 areas ; and 



(5) Establishment of communication links bet\veen data centets, 

 scientists, and computers. 



NODC is now planning for implementation of its role in the IDOE with 

 the National Science Foundation which has lead agency responsibility for 

 the program. Also the Center will serve as the regional data center for the 

 Cooperative Investigations of the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions 

 (CICAR). In a similar action, the Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting 

 Center is preparing to make its facilities available so that sorting activities 

 can be done by trained technicians thus freeing scientific personnel for more 

 direct participation in the analysis of the samples collected from IDOE 

 expeditions. 



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