Mission Statement

As an all-access-free, scientifically curated database, GEOROC is a leading source of geochemical and isotopic datasets. It is connected to the Interdisciplinary Earth Data Alliance (IEDA) and has facilitated thousands of peer-reviewed publications and new avenues of geochemical research. The new Digital Geochemical Data Infrastructure (DIGIS) concept of GEOROC 2.0 will continue and enhance the existing data collection by generating a connected platform that meets future challenges of digital data-based research and provides advanced service to the community.

Our Objectives

1. realign GEOROC with current and future demands in digital geochemical research, especially regarding FAIR data principles (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable);


2. provide this service with future-ready, adaptable IT infrastructure;


3. identify, develop and recommend good-practice rules for the curation of physical sample materials linked to the GEOROC 2.0 platform.

DIGIS will implement an interoperable metadata model as well as data and metadata exchange via standardised application interfaces (APIs). The DIGIS concept for GEOROC 2.0 includes:

• open access to end-to-end text and data mining;


• integration of data DOIs;


• links to a geochemical sample storage system via the International GeoSample Number (IGSN);


• multi-way data harvesting capabilities as well as state-of-the-art connectivity to other databases;


• promoting applications in other research areas (e.g. soil science, remote sensing, archeometry) through increased accessibility and ease-of-use of free-access geochemical databases.

Timeline

DIGIS is a multi-year project and you will see no immediate changes to the GEOROC database. While GEOROC 2.0 is being developed, the current GEOROC database will continue to be updated and curated by Bärbel Sarbas with help from the DIGIS team. We plan to release a beta version of GEOROC 2.0 for public testing in 2023. GEOROC 2.0 will replace the current database in 2024.

Sponsors & Collaborators

DIGIS is supported for three years through the Scientific Library Services and Information Systems (LIS) programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and forms an integral part of the current NFDI4Earth initiative. Working with Dominik Hezel and Horst Marschall of the Frankfurt Element & Isotope Research Centre (FIERCE) at the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, DIGIS is represented with the NFDI4Earth Pilot Project: Developing tools and FAIR principles for the GEOROC and METBASE databases. We are proud to collaborate with the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung Göttingen (GWDG).