Overview

ROCS at NSIDC is an information resource for people studying Earth's frozen regions, the history of science, or past climate related to the Earth’s frozen regions. ROCS is located at NSIDC's offices at the University of Colorado at Boulder and is open to the public.

ROCS offers a unique set of collections focused on both science and history in the Earth’s frozen regions, including the Arctic, Antarctica, the Poles, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, frozen ground, and more. ROCS includes both the ROCS Archives and the ROCS Information Center. As ROCS has evolved, it has expanded its mission to include responding to questions from the public, teachers, students, and researchers about these regions and Earth’s frozen features. The information and resources at ROCS support NSIDC’s mission to help advance understanding of the Earth’s frozen regions and the Earth as a system.

The ROCS Archives specializes in historical science materials. Its holdings include thousands of maps, photographs, prints, expedition journals, and more items of interest to those researching the history of science or studying past climate.  One of the newer and growing collections held by the Archives is comprised of materials from indigenous communities of the Arctic area including local and traditional knowledge records.  These materials are being gathered as part of an ongoing collaboration with these communities.

The ROCS Information Center holds more than 44,000 cryospheric-related monographs, serials, journal articles, reprints, videos, maps, atlases, and CD-ROMs. We currently receive over 50 periodicals and newsletters relating to the Earth’s frozen regions and to remote sensing of ice and snow.

History of the Archives

During 1957-1958, the world’s scientific communities conducted an unprecedented effort to focus their energies on intense, coordinated studies of the Earth, resulting in many significant scientific discoveries. Much data and information were collected during this effort, called the International Geophysical Year. Scientists needed an archive for these records. So in 1957, a set of archives was designated. The American Geographical Society (AGS) was designated as the U.S. World Data Center (WDC) for Glaciology under Director William O. Field. At the time, the term “glaciology” referred broadly to the study of Earth’s frozen aspects, what is now called the “cryosphere.” In part, the AGS was chosen as a repository for these materials because of their extensive holdings of glaciological materials dating back to the International Polar Year in 1882-1883.  At that time, scientific records existed only in analog format, mainly paper and film.

The collections of the WDC formed the core of the present day ROCS Archives and Information Center. In 1976, the United States Geological Survey (which operated the WDC between 1971 and 1976 under the direction of Mark F. Meier) transferred responsibility for the WDC to its current location at the University of Colorado in Boulder under the direction of Dr. Roger G. Barry.  In the decades since the move, the Archives collection has continued to expand through donations by scientists and historians from around the world.

Mission

ROCS’ mission is twofold: to preserve and maintain the historical materials it collects, husbanding the materials and providing access for researchers, scientists, students, and the public at large; and to support NSIDC’s mission.

ROCS is named for the first director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Dr. Roger Barry, who has dedicated much of his career to building and supporting the library and analog archives collections since they arrived in Boulder in 1976. See the Roger Barry Biography and the Roger Barry Symposium Keynote for more information about Dr. Barry and his research.