Records Center has suffered over the years from 

 the same financial constrictions as the National 

 Oceanographic Data Center and is unable to fully 

 meet the growing needs for marine data. 



C. Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center 



The Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center 

 is a service organization developed in response to 

 the need for expediting the analysis of biological 

 and geological samples. Plankton samples, for 

 example, may include representatives of more than 

 fifty major animal groups, each group requiring 

 examination by specialists to assure proper analy- 

 sis. The initial sorting, however, may be done by 

 technician level personnel. The sorted collections 

 are shipped to specialists located throughout the 

 world. This permits the effective use of the small 

 number of skilled taxonomists. The Center is 

 supported both by direct appropriation and 

 through contracts with several Federal agencies, 

 including Department of the Interior, National 

 Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval 

 Research. Present funding levels permit the sorting 

 of approximately 35 per cent of the samples 

 received. 



The parent organization of the Sorting Center, 

 the Smithsonian Institution, fulfills a vital national 

 need, both as a reference collection of natural 

 history specimens and as a research center. Current 

 legislation (Title 20, Section 59, U.S.C.) requires 

 that all biological and geological specimens ob- 

 tained with Federal funds be turned over even- 

 tually to the Smithsonian Institution. The 

 Smithsonian Institution, however, is not presently 

 equipped to handle properly the vast quantities of 

 marine material that would be left at its doorstep 

 were this requirement of law to be carried out 

 literally. At present, the Smithsonian only exer- 

 cises this authority in cases where it believes 

 collections will be lost. The panel concurs in this 

 interpretation of the law. 



On the other hand, biological and geological 

 investigations carried on by mission oriented 

 agencies, universities and oceanographic institu- 

 tions frequently result in the collection of large 

 and diverse samples. In many instances only a 

 small portion of the collection is actually studied, 

 for example, only the fish eggs and larvae may be 

 counted, identified, and subjected to appropriate 



analyses. The remaining portions of the sample, 

 which can make up more than 90 per cent of the 

 collection, may remain unsorted. This residue, 

 however, is a valuable library for future reference. 

 Judgment of the impact of environmental change 

 and determination of long term trends, depends 

 upon the availability of collections made either 

 prior to the change or over long periods of time. 

 Adequate storage facilities and appropriate 

 curatorial responsibility must be assigned to assure 

 that valuable materials will not be lost. Costs of 

 maintenance are small relative to the original costs 

 of making the collections and should be con- 

 sidered as part of the operating expense of the 

 national oceanographic program. The panel be- 

 lieves that the Smithsonian Institution is the 

 proper agency to perform this function. The 

 organization that collected the material should be 

 encouraged to make it available to the Smith- 

 sonian at Smithsonian expense. 



D. A Coordinated System of Data Centers 



The needs of basic science for adequate data 

 centers will require that the Federal Government 

 insure that the activities of its principal marine 

 data centers operate as part of a coordinated 

 system of data centers. Such a coordinated system 

 is necessary to permit scientists to request and 

 receive data which they need from the historical 

 archives in an expeditious manner. A scientist 

 studying a problem in marine fisheries may require 

 not only biological information but information 

 for all the marine and atmospheric physical condi- 

 tions at specified geographical locations and for 

 specified periods of time. At the present time, it is 

 a lengthy and difficult process to obtain such data 

 from the present data centers. 



Recommendation: 



The National Oceanographic Data Center, National 

 Weather Records Center, and the Smithsonian 

 Oceanographic Sorting Center should be ade- 

 quately supported with funds to enable them to 

 keep up with the growing volume of marine data 

 and to take advantage of modem achiving and 

 retrieval technology. This will permit the establish- 

 ment of a closely linked coordinated system of 

 marine data centers. The National Oceanographic 



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