Publishing Scientific Data for Electronic Books: Challenges and Opportunities

Expanding the Accessibility of Critically Evaluated Data

Dr. Joan Fuller, Program Manager

Geraldine R. Dalton, Computer Specialist

Technology Services/Standard Reference Data

National Institute of Standards and Technology

dalton@nist.gov

• Long term data centers, primarily at NIST

• Short term projects, often drawing on outside experience

• Joint projects with industrial, national, and international groups

• Coordination to minimize duplication of efforts

How Data Work is Done

• Value added to research results by evaluating data and making them more accessible.

• Put NIST standard reference data into the hands of the user.

• Yesterday – printed publications

• Today – computer databases on-line

• Tomorrow – electronic publishing

Technical Areas

• Analytical chemistry

• Thermodynamics & thermophysics

• Chemical kinetics

• Atomic & molecular physics

• Ceramic materials

• Crystallographic structure

• Surface analysis

• Alternative refrigerants

• Fundamental constants

• Biotechnology

• Materials degradation

• Fluid properties

• Electronic materials

• Software recognition

• Fire performance of materials

• Statistical reference datasets

• Digital library of mathematical functions

NIST SRD Systems

• 11 web-based databases

• NIST Chemistry WebBook & NIST Ceramics WebBook

• 10,000s users per month

• Data are added continuously

• 46 PC-based databases

• Updated 12-24 month cycle

• Over 5000 databases distributed last year

• Use third party distributors

NIST

• NIST has assumed a leadership role in the formation of ebook open standard for the community and has established itself as a innovator of ideas for the ebook community.

• Website for open ebook standard: www.openebook.com• On-line access to technical databases provides an

excellent means to market the edatabase format to the widest possible audience.

Why Databases for eBooks?• Early adopters of the ebook are currently asking for more

features, such as support for tables, embedded scripts, and color displays.

• Presentation of both graphical and tabular numeric data would support technical, scientific and business communities.

• Currently, NIST has 11 databases on-line that could serve as testbeds and marketing tools for the development of these advanced ebook features.

• Creation of a technical publishing standard that supports the incorporation of data would provide an invaluable resource to the scientific community.

• Importantly, applicable to other epublishing venues – not just Rocket eBook!

More importantly…

• Current SRD databases are provided in three formats: Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, CD-ROM, and On-Line.

• Each format has advantages and/or disadvantages.• The ebook format, is in many ways, a combination

of all the existing formats.• It provides rapid access, is easily updateable,

searchable, portable, and does not require web access.

NuvoMedia Rocket eBook

• Advantages

• Cost - ~$200

• Free “e-Reader”

• Accepts any html document

• Supports links and images

• Free on-line “library” access

• Easy to contribute to “library”

• No membership fees

• Disadvantages• Limited screen resolution• Does not support tables• Does not support Javascript• No gray scale, images are

converted to B&W• Coming Soon

• Tables• Frames• Style Sheets

National Institute of Standards and Technology

The Standard Reference Data Program (SRDP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is committed to providing the best possible service to the customer and will continue to explore opportunities to provide data in a variety of formats, including searchable on-line databases and electronic publishing. Perhaps one of the most intriguing technologies that SRDP has been following is the emergence of the electronic book or ebook format.  The ebook offers yet another possible market for NIST data products for applications where data is required but access to web or PC based systems is restricted.  More importantly, offering the ebook format adds almost no additional cost to the data, since the format is similar to the on-line product and utilizes an open version of XML.  Coincidently, the early integration of the ebook format into the SRDP program was made possible in part by SRDP’s participation in the “open ebook standard” initiative that was led by the Information Technology Laboratory at NIST. Dr. Joan Fuller, Program ManagerGeraldine R. Dalton, Computer Specialist, email address: dalton@nist.govStandard Reference Data, National Institute of Standards and Technology