The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council. |
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
41
What Should I Do With My Monitoring Data? A Practical Guide to Electronic Data Storage
Del W. Despain, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, c/o BLM Arizona Strip Field Office, 345 E. Riverside Dr., St. George, UT 84790
Land managers and researchers face a daunting list of possible solutions when deciding which electronic databases or formats to use for storing, managing and archiving vegetative, soils or other data. Decisions about which database to use are often made based on familiarity or convenience with little regard to consequences. While most databases can be “forced” to meet needs, determining best-practice solutions should consider factors including how and by whom the data will be accessed, data structures, relational integrity, database size, and so forth. Availability of technical expertise, licensing issues and budgets should come into play only after a pool of suitable solutions that meet needs has been identified. Storing data at the outset in a database that will meet projected needs can save time and reduce errors by minimizing the number of format and structural conversions through which data must pass before they are used or disseminated. Including relational integrity as an integral part of data storage can eliminate many data entry, analysis and reporting errors. Data archives require a different storage strategy than do active data. A practical guide to assist in making decisions about data storage is presented.