Cataloging and Metadata Commons^™

Revealing Our Melting Past: Rescuing Historical Snow And Ice Data, Jack M. Maness, Ruth Duer, Michael Dulock, Florence Fetterer, Gloria Hicks, Althea Merredyth, Walker Sampson, Allaina Wallace

University Libraries: Faculty Scholarship

Analog archival data can supplement modern digital research, but only if those data are preserved, described, and migrated to appropriate formats. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) is responsible for managing, archiving, and disseminating cryospheric and polar data. The clear majority of these data are digital, but the NSIDC also houses a collection of historical archival materials that include measurements related to the earth's glaciated regions prior to the development of modern instrumentation. Their formats, however, are not conducive to contemporary analysis, rendering them ostensibly “lost” to research. This paper describes …