The international directory network and connected data information systems for research in the earth and space sciences

Many researchers are becoming aware of the International Directory Network (IDN), an interconnected federation of international directories to Earth and space science data. These directories may become distributed nodes of a single, virtual master data directory of the future. Not as many are aware, however, of the many Earth-and-space-sciece-relevant information systems which can be accessed automatically from the directories. After determining potentially useful data sets in various disciplines through IDN directories it is becoming increasingly possible to get detailed information about the correlative possibilities of these data sets through the connected guide/catalog and inventory systems. Such capabilities as data set browse, subsetting, analysis, etc. are available now and will be improving in the future.