Abstract
We document the history and progress of two international ocean data management projects. The "Global Oceanographic Data Archaeology and Rescue" project was initiated in 1993 under the auspices of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The project has the goal of locating (archaeology) and digitizing or copying to modern electronic media (rescuing) historical (pre-1992) oceanographic data that exist in manuscript or electronic media form that are at risk of loss due to media decay. The IOC "World Ocean Database" project initiated in 2001 focuses on encouraging international data exchange for the post-1991 period and the development of regional atlases.