The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has launched a catalogue of information its expects to be an invaluable resource for research partners.
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The GRDC Data Catalogue was launched earlier this month, enabling Australian researchers to tap into a goldmine of information to accelerate the release of new technology and knowledge for grain growers.
Officials from the GRDC say the public launch of the catalogue will make it easier and faster to find any of the vast range of grains research, development and extension (RD&E) data generated by GRDC investments over the past 20 years.
"We are thrilled to be launching the GRDC Data Catalogue as part of GRDC's commitment to harnessing the value of RD&E data for the benefit of Australian grain growers," said Jeff Cumpston, data analytics manager, GRDC.
He said the catalogue would provide a great reference point for the industry to hunt for clues for the latest research breakthroughs.
"The GRDC Data Catalogue will see future RD&E data generated from GRDC investments captured and shared in an appropriate way, allowing Australian grains researchers to find it to advance their research for growers," Dr Cumpston said.
It is hoped there will be further gains in terms of data availability moving forward as research partners come on board with their data.
"Over time we will also increase the availability of data that can be accessed as our partners align their data management systems with the GRDC Data Catalogue," he said.
In terms of the resources available, Dr Cumpston said it would be curated to offer maximum value.
"We are starting this with past projects that we think add value, and the content will increase over time as new projects are added."
GRDC manages hundreds of RD&E projects at any given time, most of which generate new data such as yield, soil, genetic, weather and other experimental data.
The GRDC Data Catalogue will house metadata (data about data) about investments and information on how to find the related datasets, along with the ability to request access from GRDC's research partners.
The data itself will be stored and managed by GRDC's research partners and will be made findable through the singular portal of the GRDC Data Catalogue.
The current metadata in the GRDC Data Catalogue is a result of the GRDC Data Partnerships Initiative that engaged 12 GRDC research partners to start populating the GRDC Data Catalogue and build data management expertise and capacity.
It currently contains 1061 metadata records, representing over 1,200 datasets. Users may not find what they are looking for right now, but over time, as the GRDC Data Catalogue builds, more and more data will be findable.
University of Adelaide Library's digital stewardship manager Alexis Tindall was central to adding the University's data records to the GRDC Data Catalogue as part of the GRDC Data Partnerships Initiative.
"Researchers used to keep records in field notebooks, but with data getting bigger and the shift to digital tools for data collection and analysis, we need to make sure that data are looked after," Ms Tindall said.
"The GRDC Data Catalogue establishes sector-wide standards and expectations that help us all work towards the same principles and standards of data management.
"Preserving data gives us the opportunity to review and build on findings, dig deeper and get into more specific questions with the same data.
"This improves our ability to use data in decision making around all sorts of different agricultural applications."