NOAA Ocean Exploration Digital Video and Image Data: Archiving, Preserving, and Accessing Online Oceanographic Information

To address the increasing requirements for archiving, preserving and managing digital video, still images, and audio resources, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration (OE) embarked on the Video Data Management System (VDMS) Pilot Project, in collaboration with the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC), and the NOAA Central Library (NCL). Since 2002, the OE Integrated Product Team (IPT) has been developing a standardized capability for archiving these disparate types of data and information. NCL staff led the development of the Video Data Management System (VDMS) Project Plan, which is a part of a larger comprehensive OE Data Management Project. The VDMS team was asked to define and establish 'best practices' to support OE video data management requirements. They developed metadata guidelines for digital video (DV12) and digital still images (DI12) to help scientists and data managers in the field create complete metadata about their data. These guidelines also facilitate creation of MARC21, FGDC, or Dublin Core standard metadata records. They proposed a work-flow for managing digital video by defining the process for moving video data from ship to library to archive, including steps for creating archival backup copies and web-accessible video clips and highlights. The VDMS Pilot Project presently manages offline access to more than 1500 MiniDV and 500 DVCAM tapes, over 1500 DVDs, and online access to more than 100 digital video clips and highlights collected during NOAA ocean exploration cruises. Currently, access to the NOAA cruise video highlights and related documents is provided through NOAALINC, the NCL online catalog at http://www.lib.noaa.gov. A growing collection of digital data obtained during OE cruises, including video, still images, and in situ ocean observations, are archived at NODC. These data are accessible through the search and retrieval functions of the NODC Ocean Archive System (OAS) at http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/Archive/Search/. The OE VDMS Pilot Project has demonstrated its initial capability to acquire, document, manage, preserve and provide access to digital video and still image data. Five-year VDMS Project plans (2006-2010) include: Increasing access to multi-platform video images through the NOAA Libraries Online Catalog (NOAALINC) and the Online Computerized Library Center (OCLQ) WorldCat catalog. Developing a web-based portal from which diverse OE ocean data, including video, still image, and audio files will be accessible via text-driven searches or from map-driven searches using a digital atlas. Using the NODC Archive Management System as the central digital file management repository for video, still images, ocean observations, and related documentation. Expanding the scope of relevant video and image data to include similar data and information from other NOAA Line Offices and Program Offices