VSX Presentation for SAS

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Questions answered What is VSX? Why was it
created? Who is responsible? Who uses VSX? What
were the requirements? How does it work? How are
the data vetted? What data are in VSX? What are
the future plans for VSX?
What is covered in this talk?
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The International Variable Star IndeX A
comprehensive relational database of known and
suspected variable stars gathered from a variety
of respected published sources and made available
through a powerful Web interface which provides
the tools for visitors to search and view
the data, registered users to revise and add to
the data, and authorized moderators to vet the
data, creating a consistently reliable living
catalog of the most accurate and
up-to-date information available on galactic
variable stars.
What is VSX?
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The seeds of a concept Discussions between AAVSO
staff, volunteers and observers The sorry state
of affairs in the cataloging of variable
stars The pace at which names are assigned and
updates released The absence of a central store
for the growing mass of data The resource
limitations of AAVSO and other organizations The
abundance of willing and able volunteers The
availability of no-lo-cost open source
development solutions My strong personal interest
in creating such a resource AAVSO committee
formed to investigate variable star registry
Why was it created?
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Christopher Watson Original concept and Principal
Architect AAVSO Sponsorship, web and database
hosting, technical support Consultants
James BedientBill GrayJohn GreavesArne
HendenGeert HoogeveenRichard Huziak
Sebastian OteroVance PetriewAaron PriceBrian
SkiffMike SimonsenPatrick Wils
Who is responsible?
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The casual visitor Search the database for
information on variable stars Use it as a
convenient portal to external resources The
registered user Submit revisions to existing
stars in the database Submit data for new
variable star discoveries Add commentary and
supporting documents The authorized
moderator Review submissions and
commentaries Communicate with users regarding
submissions
Who uses VSX?
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For the casual visitor Acquire data from the most
significant variable star catalogs Provide
customizable form-based searching of the
data Display search results and detailed views of
the data Provide links to object-specific data
held at external resources Download and display
DSS images for any database object Display a
history of the revisions made to any database
object Provide forms for registering and creating
a system login Provide adequate and useful
on-line help Provide an enjoyable (maybe even
fun) user experience
What were the requirements?
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The Home Page
How does it work?
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Search
How does it work?
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Search Results
How does it work?
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Detail Sheet
How does it work?
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For the registered user Provide a method for
submitting revisions to existing data Provide a
simple process for submitting new variable
stars Display outwardly visible credit for
discoveries Auto-generate IAU-approved
designations for new objects Implement automated
e-mail notification of actions taken Allow
commentary to be submitted for any object Permit
upload, storage and linking of supporting
documents Provide a way to add new
cross-identifications to any object Afford secure
access to user profile and login information
What were the requirements?
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User Registration
How does it work?
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Submit Revision
How does it work?
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Submission Method
How does it work?
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New Star Form
How does it work?
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New Star Wizard
How does it work?
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For the authorized moderator Provide
authenticated access to specialized vetting
tools Provide visible notice of any new
submissions Display concise lists of revisions,
additions, and uploaded files Clearly display
data differences between revision levels Provide
simple status change and data relocation
interface Allow for rollback to previous
revision levels, if necessary Automate the
generation of notification e-mails Make the
interface efficient and easy to work with
What were the requirements?
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Staged Submissions
How are the data vetted?
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Revision Review
How are the data vetted?
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File Upload Review
How are the data vetted?
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Behind the scenes Submitted revisions, additions,
cross-ids and file uploads are staged (not
immediately made available to the public) Staged
submissions are reviewed by authorized
moderators Web tools available only to moderators
provide an efficient interface for quickly
evaluating the changes made in revisions and data
provided in other types of submissions Once
approved, the submitted data is moved by the
system to the public index automatically Rejected
submissions may be corrected and resubmitted by
the originator, accompanied by system-generated
e-mail notifications Revision levels are
maintained, so any revision may be rolled back
if subsequently found to be erroneous or
unsupported
How are the data vetted?
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Launch data Combined General Catalog of Variable
Stars (GCVS 4.2, online) All notes, references,
and cross-identifications from GCVS New Catalog
of Suspected Variable Stars (NSV, NSV
Supplement) All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS-3)
Catalog of Variable Stars Red variables from The
Northern Sky Variability Survey (NSVS) Contact
and near-contact binaries from NSVS Information
Bulletin on Variable Stars (IBVS) New variable
stars discovered from offered images to the MISAO
Project Miras and EBs from the Optical
Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) Bright
contact and near-contact binaries from
ROTSE Downes et al. Catalog of Cataclysmic
Variables (2006 Archival) Total of 133,569
variables and suspects
What data are in VSX?
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A look ahead Import other variable star
catalogs Work toward primary record
model Further enhance and streamline user
interface Collect user feedback and track
issues Implement frequently requested
features Periodically publish lists of revisions
and additions Shepherd the maturation of the
database
What are the future plans?
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Wrapping it up VSX is a living, growing database
of variable stars Sponsored by the AAVSO Seeded
with data from some of the best existing
catalogs Eventually holding data for every known
variable star Data is searchable by anyone from
the Web Records may be modified by registered
users Submissions continually reviewed by
authorized moderators A complete revision history
is available for every star New discoveries may
be added to the database Supporting documents may
be stored for any star Attractive and simple user
interface makes it fun!
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