World Data Centre for Glaciology, Cambridge (WDCGC)

• < Previous
• Home
• Next >

The WDCGC manager acquires and catalogues glaciological material for the SPRI Library, supplies material to the WDCGC website and maintains the online Directory of European Glaciology. WDCGC also responds to requests for glaciological information from academic and media researchers and the general public, either directly or by referral. The expertise of the Data Centre Manager as a glaciologist is also invaluable in enabling the Library to answer the wide range of questions received from the polar community and the general public. The WDC is in recipient of up to 2000 enquiries a year. The WDCGC is central to SPRI’s involvement in the International Polar Year Publications Database (IPY-PD) consortium.

As part of this initiative, the WDC is committed to capturing, abstracting and indexing the published output of IPY research into glaciology worldwide, as well as any associated education, outreach and communications materials, not just for the duration of the Polar Year, but for the fifteen years which follow. The IPY Publications Database will make a significant contribution to achieving the legacy targets of the IPY. Exploratory talks began in 2012 to convert the WDC to membership of the World Data System. The SPRILIB catalogue received almost 50,000 page requests during the academic year 2011-12.

Rick Frolich and Heather Lane