Dissemination of Marine Information

National Oceanographic Library and Marine Information and Advisory Service, National Oceanography Centre

Contact Information

and

Mission Statement

The mission of the National Oceanography Centre is:

• to understand the functioning of the earth and its oceans as a physical, biological, geological and chemical system on a global scale,
• to elucidate the role of the earth/ocean system in maintaining the Earth's environment,
• to carry out research at all relevant space and time scales, with emphasis on the coupled and interdisciplinary nature of the system,
• to develop and exploit new technology for the study of the earth and the oceans,
• to provide teaching and learning of the highest quality in earth, ocean and environmental sciences, within an active research environment, for both undergraduate and postgraduate students,
• to acquire, maintain, manage and exploit relevant data and materials,
• to provide a national service for large-scale oceanographic facilities, including the NERC fleet of Research Vessels, and the National Oceanographic Library.

Short Historical Statement

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is a purpose built development creating a centre for some 450 research scientists, lecturing and support staff as well as 600 undergraduate and post graduate students. The Centre officially opened on April 17^th, 1996, and is a joint venture between the University of Southampton and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and is one of a few world-class centres of excellence in ocean and earth sciences and ocean technology. The NERC fleet of three purpose built Royal Research Ships is also based in Empress Dock as are collections of national and international importance including the National Oceanographic Library and the Discovery Collections.

Major Programmes

The Centre is involved in many programmes and these include:

• EU Framework 5 Projects

• EU Large Scale Research Facility

Natural Environment Research Council programmes include:

• Seasonal to Decadal Ocean Variability

• Ocean Interior Processes

• Seafloor processes

• Sensors and Platforms (Technology Development Project)

• Large-scale, Long-term Ocean Circulation

The following Project Offices are based at the Centre:

• World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE)

• Climate Variability (CLIVAR)

• European Global Ocean Observing System (EUROGOOS)

Cross Disciplinary Research Themes

The National Oceanographic Library supports the work of the Centre in the following 8 cross disciplinary research themes:

Facilities at the National Oceanographic Library

The National Oceanographic Library (NOL) houses one of the worlds finest marine science collections of books, reports, journals, atlases and charts. It serves the whole of UK marine science; within NERC, other Government laboratories, universities and industry. Personal visits can be arranged to use the library collections, data bases and loan and copy facilities.

The Library has some 13,000 books, 95,000 reports, 90,000 reprints, 2,500 serial titles (1,000 current) with 500 atlases and 5,000 charts and a growing collection of CD–ROMs of marine data, imagery and bibliographic data. 130,000 references are presently held on the online data base OCEANIS, growing at some 13,000 records per year, with an additional card catalogue of 250,000 references. All references are indexed by author, subject and region.

The facilities include

• National Ocean and Earth Science Collection

• OCEANIS - Ocean Information System - online database of references, images, websites

• UK Marine Science Archives (including Discovery Investigations, Challenger Society)

• Image Library

It also operates the Marine Information and Advisory Service (MIAS), a unique commercial information service which provides information, data and advice to organisations with interests in the marine environment both in the UK and abroad. Although based at the Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC), it has access to other NERC Marine Science Laboratories. MIAS can service a range of enquiries from requests for readily accessible information to information problems needing several days of staff consultancy (through the Advice and Consultancy Section). Where appropriate, enquirers are referred to other sources.

The MIAS Information Service and OCEANIS Help Desk are staffed continuously.

Services are offered on an ad hoc basis or through MIAS Subscriptions, providing advantageous access to services and facilities.

Overseas Links

The National Oceanographic Library maintains an exchange programme with some 1,000 marine science centres around the world. It is linked via the International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centres (IAMSLIC) and the European Association of Aquatic Science Science Libraries and Information Centres (EURASLIC) network. It contributes to the work of the IOC Group of Experts on Marine Information Management as UK Representative.

Industrial Links

The Marine Information and Advisory Service offers a commercial information service on an ad hoc charge or subscription basis.  It comprises members from marine related industry and commerce.