Capturing quality

Abstract

The "real world" nature of field-based citizen science involves unique data management challenges that distinguish it from projects that involve only Internet-mediated activities. In particular, many data contribution and review practices are often accomplished "offline' via paper or general-purpose software like Excel. This can lead to integration challenges when attempting to implement project-specific ICT with full revision and provenance tracking. In this work, we explore some of the current challenges and opportunities in implementing ICT for managing volunteer monitoring data. Our two main contributions are: a general outline of the workflow tasks common to field-based data collection, and a novel data model for preserving provenance metadata that allows for ongoing data exchange between disparate technical systems and participant skill levels. We conclude with applications for other domains, such as hydrologic forecasting and crisis informatics, as well as directions for future research.