WorldWideScience.org now offers the capability to search scientific data collections. Six new data sources have been added to WWS.org, representing a significant milestone in improving access to scientific data from around the world. Users seeking scientific datasets can conduct a real-time, one-stop search and immediately gain access not only to the metadata but to the actual scientific data itself.
WorldWideScience.org’s unique federated searching capability meets many of the challenges users face in the discovery of scientific and numeric data. Unless users are very familiar with a particular data center or know that specific datasets exist, it is very difficult to identify and locate scientific data. WWS.org provides access to over 80 of the world’s most authoritative scientific information and data sources, all nationally sponsored or sanctioned. Users can simultaneously search across many databases/collections in text, multimedia, and data formats, and receive consolidated, relevance-ranked results. In most cases, links direct the user to the full text document; or in the case of scientific data sources, the user can often link directly to datasets. As access to scientific data becomes increasingly important, WWS.org offers the ability to easily identify, search, and access this information – contributing to the spread of scientific knowledge and advancements worldwide.