CPP-01. Building a NOAA Data Collection at the National Snow and Ice Data Center While Breaking the Researcher-Contributor Hesitancy Barrier

Abstract
Researchers need cryospheric data of all types, both historical and recent that span polar latitudes and high altitudes, for work that must try to outpace the rapid rate of change in cold places. Science builds on science and does so more efficiently if data are shared. While the bulk of the NOAA@NSIDC collection are data from operational services (such as ice charts), or data derived from satellite remote sensing (like the Sea Ice Index), we have an increasing number of important data sets from researchers. The best way to invest sharing data with value for the data contributor is to serve as an agent for their data product: help them document it clearly, compose a citation for the data product with the lead contributor in author position and assign a DOI, work with them on an Acknowledgement section so that they may credit a larger team, keep usage statistics so they have a way to know how many times their data have been downloaded, and notify them of valuable user feedback. All these steps benefit both the data provider and the users’ science/research. We maintain that a data product can be as significant an addition to a CV as a publication, and will engender the appreciation of and citations by other researchers for the indefinite life of a data set. By taking on much of the activity of preparing a completed data set for publication, we lower the barrier to data preservation that researchers face.