Scientific data is increasingly more accessible. To understand the forces that have shaped this new landscape of openness, two projects were the subject of ethnographic study: the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). One investigator spent several months with the C-DEBI project, while another investigator spent several weeks with the SDSS project. Observational notes were taken. Transcripts were made of several dozen interviews. A large corpus of documentation was analyzed.

Supporting the exploitation of expensively gathered data from the subseafloor is a reason for openness in the C-DEBI project. Supporting the long tradition of citizen science in astronomy is a reason for openness in the SDSS project. A reason for openness across both projects was the requirement to have a data management plan in funding proposals made to the National Science Foundation. The C-DEBI project chose to exploit existing disciplinary databases for data storage. The policies governing use of these databases mean that only other scientists can easily access C-DEBI data. In contrast, the SDSS project undertook the building of a complete infrastructure for storage and the dissemination of data to scientists and the public alike. The conclusion is drawn that there is no simple linear relationship that sees rationales shaping policies and policies shaping infrastructures.

Ethnographic researchers will likely find the discussion on the coding of the accumulated ethnographic evidence to be far too brief. Nonetheless, this paper is strongly recommended to experimental scientists and science policy makers.