NeSC Seminar: Integrating Diverse Sources of Scientific Data: Is it safe to match on names?

25 April, 2006
16:00 - 18:00,
The University of Edinburgh Lecture Theatre 1, Sanderson Building,
Kings Buildings

Professor Jessie Kennedy will speak on integrating diverse sources of scientific data.

Abstract:
The wealth and diversity of scientific data collected and stored is growing rapidly as automation increases and technological costs diminish. Today's researchers have to make best use of this wealth of data resources in combination with the data their own research provides. There is huge potential for scientific discovery by combining information from these multiple, diverse and distributed data resources. But their sheer number, complexity and diversity makes this a daunting task, with many research challenges. This talk will look at one of the problems facing researchers; that of data integration and in particular the issue of matching data sets using names.

This is a particular problem facing biologists, but also applies to other scientists such as astronomers. The Scientific Environment for Ecological Knowledge (SEEK) research project which aims to develop an environment to support ecologists undertake ecological data analysis will be used as a case study to explore the issues. Using a typical ecological analysis scenario we will explore the problems of integrating data sets and focus in on the specific problem of matching data sets using scientific names

This event does not require registration, and we would like to encourage as many people as possible to attend. We will also be webcasting this event and the details and URL will be put here as soon as they become available.