Habitat, fishery, and possibly currents were considered important, but the Working Group did not feel that an exhaustive list of data needs for the coastal manager was necessary at this point in time. Some debate occurred as to how to balance the integration of data in the archives with the archiving function itself. There was full consensus that archiving and retrieval should be the main focus, but the issue of data integration should be a part of the evolution of coastal data archiving. It was perceived by the working group that vast amounts of data are being lost at great expense to the tax payer, due to a general failure to archive scientific digital data. It was also recognized that the NODC library system can serve as a model for how to view the archiving process.
Data integration can occur as appropriate to support acquisitions, archival and retrieval.
Develop a card catalog system that meets minimum FGDC standards and has a descriptive abstract. This should be for current archived holdings and all future holdings. It was recognized that Partnerships are key to a successful initiation of a coastal data archive and retrieval system. This must be a role of NODC and should involve both external and internal entities. Top down should meet bottom up - c.