AnIML Workshop "Data Standards for Analytical Chemistry - the ASTM AnIML Solution" at PittCon 2013, March 18, 2013 in Philidelphia, PA.
Abstract: As analytical chemistry experiments become increasingly complex, as amounts of result data and metadata per experiment grow, and as data retention requirements lengthen, the need to structure and to record experimental outcomes in a uniform, web-friendly, retrievable, and searchable manner is becoming critical. The Analytical Information Markup Language (AnIML) is being created to fill such a need. This session will begin with data-standard-requirement assessments from the pharmaceutical, environmental, and academic sectors, be followed by vendor perspectives on and examples of using AnIML to address such needs, and conclude with an update on the current state of the AnIML standards.
ABSTRACTS
Paper 1: The Need for Analytical Data Standards Within the Pharmaceutical Industry
Mark F. Bean, GlaxoSmithKline, 1250 S. Collegeville Rd., Collegeville PA 19426
With mergers and acquisitions within the instrument vendors, changing operating systems, and modernization of data acquisition systems, anyone with long experience in the pharmaceutical industry recognizes the need for analytical data standards. Such standards allow corporations to store data in a neutral format for decades, allow scientists to decouple instrument selection from data format and application software.
Paper 2: EPA’s Environmental Data Management Needs
Anand Mudambi, US EPA, Washington DC
The United States Environmental Protection Agency is working to establish a consistent and relatively stable business driven framework with a uniform format for data reporting and supporting information to determine data quality. This will allow for better internal coordination and also assist the Agency in coordinating with its partners (federal, state, and local) in the exchange of environmental data and information. The paper will discuss the status of coordination steps for data management both within the Agency and with other partners, including use of AnIML in agency operations.
Paper 3: Using the AnIML Specification to Store Research Data
Stuart J. Chalk, University of North Florida, 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32224
Research data is by its nature less structured and more variable than that collected in an industrial laboratory. How then can research scientists take advantage of the AnIML specification to capture the data and context of their research experiments? The presentation discusses the application of AnIML to the research environment for storage of research data via i) the specification alone, ii) augmenting the specification with a research extension, and iii) embedding the specification in another XML format. Examples of how the research data can be integrate/searched will also be given.
This presentation was withdrawn
Paper 4: Using the AnIML Data Standard to Facilitate Collaboration Across Organizational Boundaries
Burkhard Schaefer, BSSN Software
This presentation examines the use of the emerging AnIML data standard in collaboration between cross-organizational teams. It discusses strategies for capturing and analyzing data in a vendor-independent, standard-driven approach. It examines how to address the gaps and pitfalls which exist when requesting and sharing data between groups inside or outside an organization. A case study examines a real-life AnIML implementation at a top-5 global pharmaceutical company where such a collaborative approach is used.
Paper 6: Working on AnIML - A View from a Vendors Perspective
Maren Fiege, Waters GmbH
The ASTM AnIML standard is being developed in response to a general need to deal with more and more complex analytical data being generated in increasing amounts in an often highly regulated environment. At the same time, the data is often created in a multitude of proprietary formats that do not easily facilitate interchange and long term readability.
Complementing the industry, academic, and government perspectives on the AnIML effort, this workshop will present the motivation and viewpoint of an instrument and software vendor's representative.
Paper 6: AnIML: Current Status and Next Steps
Burkhard Schaefer, BSSN Software; Joe Koury, ASTM
Creating the Analytical Information Markup Language (AnIML) and its ASTM standards is a multistep process. The design of AnIML 1.0 has been completed and tested. Base documents that describe the overall layout of AnIML and its schemas have been written, and ASTM E13.15 subcommittee is creating draft standards documents from this base documentation for submission through the ASTM approval process. Once this set of standards has been affirmed, AnIML 1.0 will be official. Although these initial standards will allow AnIML to be used, it will function best when these initial standards are used with standard Technique Definition Documents (TDDs) for specific analytical techniques. TDDs have been created for several important analytical techniques and are currently being tested. The formal documentation and standards creation process for TDDs will begin once the initial standards are in place. This presentation will provide details on the current state of the AnIML documentation and standards creation process, provide a prognosis for the completion of the ASTM E13.15 subcommittee’s remaining AnIML tasks, and outline how these standards, once approved, will be accessed, used, extended, and updated.