The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) is an independent, nonprofit field station with no institutional affiliation, which provides facilities for researchers who wish to study high-altitude biology in a field setting. This project will assist in purchasing PC workstations, network capability, peripherals, and software to enhance the Lab's data management system (DMS). The RMBL has developed a preliminary plan for data management that establishes policies and guidelines for use and access of the RMBL DMS. An enhanced DMS will provide 1) for the security, access, maintenance, and documentation for key data sets maintained by RMBL (e.g., weather records, land management, species inventories, research activities, and maps of facilities), 2) a convenient means for scientists and students to enter, document access, and archive data sets as part of a library of databases for RMBL, 3) a geographic information system (GIS) facility as a means for students and researchers to analyze and model spatially related phenomena at RMBL, 4) a facility for training students in data management techniques, and 5) an organized platform for the integration of published RMBL research, enhancing its value for providing scientific information to relevant agencies in the region and to the lay community. The RMBL DMS will be implemented in phases, and priority will be given to enhancing computing capability and accessibility for students and visiting scientists to RMBL data resources. RMBL has established a data management policy, made preliminary choices of hardware and software, and hired a half-time data manager who will begin developing data catalogs. During the time period of this proposal RMBL will install an LAN with server that includes the RMBL administrative offices, the library, and the student computer facility in Barclay Classroom Building. Initial access to the network by RMBL investigators will be via public access computers on the LAN, or via phone connec tion to the Internet and the RMBL homepage from their laboratory offices. The Lab also will construct data catalogs for placement on the RMBL home page, develop RMBL GIS data layers, and purchase appropriate hardware to enhance GIS capability.
