Introducing the Gateway for the Polar Social Sciences (GaPSS) Program: A System for Managing Data from the Arctic Social Sciences

Colleen Strawhacker, Peter Pulsifer, and Shari Gearheard

Abstract
Scientists and policymakers are realizing more than ever the importance of social science research to fully understand how rapid environmental and social change is affecting human populations living in the Arctic. To document and analyze these changes, millions of dollars are invested in scientific research, including in the social sciences, every year and with that investment, scientists and policymakers have begun stressing the importance of preserving and curating the collected data for future research and analysis. Collected datasets can be used to perform new and creative analyses and visualizations at a number of different scales, but data can be quickly lost due to a variety of factors, including the inability to use outdated file formats, the failure of the hard drive or server where the data are stored, or the loss of information concerning data collection and methodology. This loss compromises the ability to perform research in the Arctic at different spatial and temporal scales. It is clear that maintaining, preserving, and managing these data effectively is essential to understand the long-term sustainability of the Arctic. To assist researchers with this massive task, new and existing organizations specializing in data management, like the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, are turning their attention to social science data. These data centers are frequently supported by public funds, are designed to create reliable ways to preserve and curate data for the long-term, and have made significant advances in how to manage data in the face of rapidly changing technological standards. Many of these centers have developed strong cyberinfrastructure systems, including the Advanced Cooperative Arctic Data and Information Service (ACADIS), to manage and curate data from the physical sciences, such as sea ice thickness, permafrost, biodiversity, and marine resources. With the increased recognition of the importance of social science data, however, these data centers face numerous challenges and obstacles to effectively managing and curating data from the social sciences, including Traditional and Local knowledge. Data from the social sciences, for example, frequently take a very different form from data from the physical sciences, can be highly dependent on context, and have difficult issues associated with consent, use, and intellectual property. This poster will introduce the newly formed Gateway for the Polar Social Sciences (GaPSS), a new program based at the National Snow and Ice Data Center that has been created to begin managing data from the Arctic Social Sciences. This poster will detail the challenges that GaPSS can address with core personnel, the current state of GaPSS, and future plans for development of the system to meet the complex needs of social science data and its management and curation. The poster will also address linkages to other data management systems housed at NSIDC, including ACADIS and the Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge in the Arctic (ELOKA).