Recent advances in aminostratigraphic methods and data management

Amino Acid Racemization Workshop; Bern, Switzerland, 23 July 2011 Over the past several years, numerous communities of scientists have recognized the need for preservation of data in formats that will be widely accessible in the future (see, e.g., AGU Position Statements; http://www.agu.org/sci-pol/positions/ geodata.shtml). This effort also extends to preservation of important samples and the documentation of their storage location for future use. Within the history of any discipline, laboratories and collections will be active and then become inactive, often with the loss of material and unpublished data. For labs active prior to the digital era, this issue is often quite serious, as even published data may be difficult to access.