CERN Scientific Information Service
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| CERN Scientific Information Service | |
|---|---|
| Name | CERN Scientific Information Service |
| Formation | 1954 |
| Headquarters | Meyrin, Switzerland |
| Region served | International |
| Parent organization | European Organization for Nuclear Research |
CERN Scientific Information Service
The CERN Scientific Information Service is an institutional unit of European Organization for Nuclear Research located at Meyrin that coordinates document management, scientific publishing, open access, and archival functions supporting projects such as Large Hadron Collider, ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment), ATLAS experiment, CMS experiment, and LHCb experiment. It interfaces with organizations including Inspire, arXiv, WorldWideScience, European Open Science Cloud and national libraries like the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the British Library to deliver repository services, metadata curation, and preservation for publications, technical reports, theses, and multimedia produced within collaborations such as ATLAS collaboration, CMS Collaboration, LHCb Collaboration, and experiments at the Proton Synchrotron. The Service supports policy initiatives from bodies like the European Commission, UNESCO, and the Open Researcher and Contributor ID registry while coordinating with publishers such as Springer Nature, Elsevier, IEEE, and IOP Publishing.
Overview
The Service administers centralized collections, digital repositories, and library operations to manage outputs from facilities including the Large Electron–Positron Collider, Super Proton Synchrotron, Compact Muon Solenoid, ATLAS detector, and associated detector R&D groups, interfacing with metadata standards promoted by Dublin Core, PRISM (Publishing Requirements for Industry Standard Metadata), and initiatives such as OpenAIRE. It preserves institutional memory for projects like NA61/SHINE, CAST experiment, ISOLDE and supports workflows for thesis submission from affiliations including University of Geneva, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Imperial College London, and CERN Summer Student Programme. Collections include peer-reviewed articles deposited alongside technical notes, preprints, conference proceedings from events such as International Conference on High Energy Physics, and documentation connected to awards like the Nobel Prize in Physics laureates whose work involved CERN infrastructure.
History
The Service traces roots to early documentation practices at the European Organization for Nuclear Research during the commissioning of the Proton Synchrotron and the Intersecting Storage Rings and formalized as library and information services concurrent with experiments such as UA1 and UA2 that produced influential papers leading to collaborations recognized by institutions such as CERN Council. Throughout the late 20th century it adapted to electronic publishing trends spurred by platforms like arXiv and partnerships with repositories such as INSPIRE-HEP while responding to policy shifts from entities including European Research Council and the European Commission's Framework Programmes. In the 21st century it implemented open access mandates in line with directives from Plan S proponents and integrated digital preservation standards championed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and the Digital Preservation Coalition.
Services and Collections
Core services include a digital repository for preprints and technical reports used by collaborations including ATLAS Collaboration, CMS Collaboration, ALICE Collaboration, and LHCb Collaboration; a catalog linking to holdings in partner institutions like the CERN Library, the Geneva Public Library, and institutional repositories at University of Oxford and University of Cambridge; interlibrary loan and document delivery cooperating with systems such as OCLC and COPAC; and specialized support for data management plans aligned with guidelines from the European Data Protection Supervisor and funders like the European Research Council. Collections also encompass archival materials related to experiments such as WA97, detector blueprints for projects like LHCb detector, oral histories with scientists associated with Higgs boson research, multimedia from outreach initiatives including Open Days at CERN, and teaching resources linked to courses at Université de Genève.
Technology and Infrastructure
The Service operates repositories and metadata services using infrastructure interoperable with Inspire HEP and protocols like OAI-PMH and integrates persistent identifiers from ORCID and Handle System. Storage and preservation are supported by tape libraries, distributed storage across CERN Tier sites such as CERN Data Centre, and redundancy coordinated with grid and cloud resources associated with Worldwide LHC Computing Grid, European Grid Infrastructure, and the Open Science Grid. Search and discovery use indexing technologies comparable to those used by Google Scholar and integration with scholarly infrastructure from CrossRef and DataCite for DOI registration, while authentication and authorization leverage federations such as eduGAIN and identity services used by Invenio-based repositories.
Access and User Services
User-facing services include reference and research support for scientists from collaborations like ATLAS and CMS, training in metadata and copyright compliance aligned with policies from Creative Commons, support for thesis submission with universities such as ETH Zurich, and outreach to schools and public audiences participating in programs like the CERN High School Teacher Programme. Access modalities include open access deposits, embargoed deposit workflows coordinated with publishers such as Elsevier and Springer Nature, and mediated access for sensitive technical documents associated with projects like ISOLDE. The Service provides APIs and bulk access for data discovery used by research groups at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermilab, and academic institutions worldwide.
Governance and Partnerships
Governance is embedded within the administrative structure of the European Organization for Nuclear Research and coordinated with advisory committees including representatives from member states such as France, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Germany, and observer states like United States. Strategic partnerships include collaboration with Inspire, arXiv, national libraries such as the Library of Congress, funding agencies like the European Research Council and the European Commission, software communities developing Invenio and standards bodies like ISO. Memoranda of understanding govern data stewardship with computing partners including CERN openlab, research infrastructures like European Open Science Cloud, and collaborations with publishing consortia such as Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics.
Impact and Metrics
The Service supports discovery and reuse of research outputs that underpin discoveries attributed to projects honored by awards such as the Breakthrough Prize and the Nobel Prize in Physics, tracks repository metrics interoperable with COUNTER and Altmetric indicators, and contributes to citation networks catalogued in Inspire HEP, Web of Science, and Scopus. Its digital preservation and access practices facilitate reproducibility in analyses for experiments like ATLAS experiment and CMS experiment and inform policy discussions at forums including the Open Science Conference and Research Data Alliance.