Managing Astronomical Data

Chairs: Ray Norris, Chenzhou Cui, and Alex Szalay

Astronomy has a distinguished tradition of using technology to accelerate the quality and effectiveness of science, and data-intensive initiatives such as the Virtual Observatory lead the way. However, astronomical data are not uniformly well-managed, and amongst shining examples of excellent data management by major projects are interspersed examples where data management has not been properly resourced, or where hard-earned data remain inaccessible to most astronomers. We, like other fields of science, need to establish and agree on a set of guiding principles for the management of astronomical data.

This session will be focussed on cross-disciplinary aspects of these issues. What lessons (both positive and negative) can be learnt from astronomy, what initiatives can be re-used in other fields, and what can astronomy learn from other fields.