The NCSA astronomy digital image library: from data archiving to data publishing

The NCSA Astronomy Digital Image Library (ADIL)(2), a repository providing astronomers with research-quality images over the Web, represents the final stage of the data-research pipeline that begins at the telescope and ends with the publication of scientific results. By examining the ADIL's mission and architecture, we will highlight some of the challenges arising from th e development of a scientific data library. After an overview of the motiva tion and context surrounding the Library, we will present the two faces of its user interface: one for those looking for data, and one for those wishi ng to add to the Library's collection. We will then outline the design of t he Library's back-end system, describing some of the technical choices made during its development. Finally, we will examine the role of the ADIL in t he evolving life cycle of scientific data, highlighting two important issue s: interoperability and data publishing. Today, the data life cycle is almo st entirely electronic; thus, the scientific data library becomes a critica l part of the solution to the 'Data Crisis' in astronomy: keeping up with t he exploding growth of new data. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.