Maximizing Utility of Community-based Resources: CottonSNP Arrays

The amount of data being produced and stored in databases has increased exponentially as the speed of data generation continues to increase. Utilization of data sets is dependent on excellent data stewardship and management by the crop community. Initiation of these practices has been suggested and monitored by the CottonGen database, but the potential utility of the database through inclusion of samples ultimately falls on the individual researchers within the community. Arrays are specifically dependent, as their utilization in communities (including the cotton community) has been steadily increasing but they fall outside of traditional data required for input into a standardized database such as NCBI. As collection of array data from the Cotton SNP63K (public) and other arrays (CottonSNP80K) increases, utility of the collected data can be maximized in the community by good data stewardship and a community-based standard for inclusion of both raw and processed data into the public domain for maximizing utility of the community-based resource. We will discuss data stewardship and good practices for inclusion and utilization of array based data in coordination with the CottonGen database.