Klopsch, M. W.; Stafford, S. G. 1986. The status and promise of intersite computer communication. In: Michener, William K., ed. Research data management in the ecological sciences. The Belle W. Baruch Library in Marine Science No. 16. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press: 115-123.
One major goal of the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program is to facilitate collaborative research among sites. To achieve thisgoal, intersite communication of both data and documentswill be required. Most of this information can be handled electronically. Data exchange via magnetic tapes, floppydisks, or telecommunications is available at all LTERsites; as communication speeds
increase, nearly all datawill be telecommunicated using error-checking protocols toimprove reliability. Information currently
communicated on paper could be sent as electronic mail; parts of collaborative manuscripts could be prepared on word
processors and merged without extensive retyping or delays; electronically exchanged data summaries could easily be transformed for analysis or merged with other information. Shared databasescould be established on either a central computer or an information service.
Although the information revolutionbrings with it certain hazards, linking LTER sites into a telecommunication network is feasible and has great potential to enhance future ecological research.