New Knowledge from Old Data: The Role of Standards in the Sharing and Reuse of Ecological Data

@article{citeulike:2855355, abstract = {This article analyzes the experiences of ecologists who used data they did not collect themselves. Specifically, The author examines the processes by which ecologists understand and assess the quality of the data they reuse, and investigates the role that standard methods of data collection play in these processes. Standardization is one means by which scientific knowledge is transported from local to public spheres. While standards can be helpful, the results show that knowledge of the local context is critical to ecologists' reuse of data. Yet, this information is often left behind as data move from the private to the public world. The knowledge that ecologists acquire through fieldwork enables them to recover the local details that are so critical to their comprehension of data collected by others. Social processes also play a role in ecologists' efforts to judge the quality of data they reuse. 10.1177/0162243907306704}, author = {Zimmerman, Ann S. }, citeulike-article-id = {2855355}, doi = {10.1177/0162243907306704}, journal = {Science Technology Human Values}, keywords = {all, data-reuse, evaluation}, month = {February}, pages = {0162243907306704+}, posted-at = {2008-06-01 22:02:34}, priority = {2}, title = {New Knowledge from Old Data: The Role of Standards in the Sharing and Reuse of Ecological Data}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0162243907306704}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2855355 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2855355 TI - New Knowledge from Old Data: The Role of Standards in the Sharing and Reuse of Ecological Data JF - Science Technology Human Values SP - 0162243907306704 N2 - This article analyzes the experiences of ecologists who used data they did not collect themselves. Specifically, The author examines the processes by which ecologists understand and assess the quality of the data they reuse, and investigates the role that standard methods of data collection play in these processes. Standardization is one means by which scientific knowledge is transported from local to public spheres. While standards can be helpful, the results show that knowledge of the local context is critical to ecologists' reuse of data. Yet, this information is often left behind as data move from the private to the public world. The knowledge that ecologists acquire through fieldwork enables them to recover the local details that are so critical to their comprehension of data collected by others. Social processes also play a role in ecologists' efforts to judge the quality of data they reuse. 10.1177/0162243907306704 KW - all KW - data-reuse KW - evaluation AU - Zimmerman, Ann PY - 2008/02/05/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0162243907306704 ER -