Scientific Data Management

[rax_m]

Hi all,

My (fairly) new role is that of a scientific data manager.

I'm trying to get an idea of how other scientists / organisations handle the tons of data they accumulate.

Currently, the norm here seems to be loading these data into Excel spreadsheets, or MS Access databases that eventually get stuck/lost on some one's personal (work) computer.

So I guess the questions are:

- How do you as a scientist manage the data you collect?
- How do you share that information with others?
- Do you have an special process software that helps you automate stuff?

Thanks for taking the time!

Cheers
Rax

[kjohansen]

The best solution would be to set up a central database in Oracle, MS SQL, or MySQL based on your budget.

Then you could access these in programs or use a databse GUI program like those listed here: http://linas.org/linux/db-rad.html.

For Windows I used a program called Toad at one job. Toad allowed you to run SQL statements and then export the results to Excel etc for use.

[gunksta]

It may be overkill for your needs but something along the lines of Jasper or Pentaho might also be appropriate.

[rax_m]

thanks for the suggestions.... I'll look into these apps.

I'm already trying to set up a central DB.. now to get the scientists to use it! ;)

[rax_m]

gunksta - Just to clear up do you mean the following:

http://www.pentaho.com/products/

http://jasperforge.org/plugins/project/project_home.php?group_id=102

Thanks

[gunksta]

Yes.

Those are the products I meant. I should have linked to them in my first post. Thanks for following up on it.