1. Preparing Metadata Records Suresh K.S. Vannan ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN santhanavans@ornl.gov Viv Hutchison US Geological Survey, Denver, CO vhutchison@usgs.gov Data Management Practices for Early Career Scientists 2013 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting May 2 nd, 2013

2. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Plan Collect AssureDescribePreserveDiscoverIntegrateAnalyze Collect/AssembleAnalysis/Synthesis Publish Paper Understanding the role of metadata 2

3. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Measure –Identify Information to be collected in a metadata record Explain –Explain metadata collected for data descriptiveness Test –Test the Quality of information presented Advertise –Publish the information using metadata standards Metadata Topics 3

4. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Measure - Data Collection 4

5. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Soil Moisture at field sites From Field Notes to Datasets SiteSoil MoistureStandard Deviation Number of Observations Minimum Soil Moisture Maximum Soil Moisture Harvard Forest4.4---14.4 Walker Branch7.03.03410 Ozark10.0---110 Howland Forest10.52.011916 Duke Forest11.015.52022 Tonzi Ranch11.54.517322 Sky Oaks12.55.5897028.8 Santarem-Km7713.25.656932 Niwot Ridge13.35.916427 5

6. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Parameter - Description 6

7. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Parameter – Location and Time 7

8. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Metadata is a critical part of the data picture 8

9. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Providing data to another researcher: – What parameters are contained in the data? – Which temporal and spatial region does this data cover? – What limitations, if any, do the data have? – What does the data describe? – How should the data be cited if it is re-used in a new study? Receiving data from another researcher: – What are the parameters characterized in this data – What are the data uncertainties? – How was the data measured/? – Are there any fees associated with the data? – In what scale were the data created? – What do the values in the tables mean? – What software do I need in order to read the data? – What projection are the data in? – Is this data set restricted? The end is where it begins….. 9

10. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Metadata Pecha Kucha 10

11. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Metadata Pecha Kucha 11

12. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Metadata Pecha Kucha 12

13. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Metadata Pecha Kucha 13

14. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Test 14 City of Salem 44,-123 44.992575,-123.056853

15. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Organize your information Review for accuracy and completeness Do not use jargon Use informative title that includes topic, timeliness of the data, and geography Use “none”, “unknown”, and “nodata” meaningfully Be specific and quantify when you can Select keywords wisely – http://gcmd.nasa.gov/learn/keywords.html http://gcmd.nasa.gov/learn/keywords.html Remember: a computer will read your metadata Fully define entities, attributes, units of measure Steps to Create Quality Metadata 15

16. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Tools for capturing metadata You - Data creator Metadata Editors commercial and Open Source –ArcGIS desktop –Oxygen –USGS metadata editor –Metacat Documentation 16

17. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Share your metadata with other researchers Examples of metadata search portals: – ORNL DAAC http://daac.ornl.gov – Reverb http://reverb.echo.nasa.gov/reverb/ –Data.gov http://data.gov Advertise Your Metadata and data: Publish 17

18. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Let’s Address Concerns… ConcernSolution workload required to capture accurate robust metadata incorporate metadata creation into data development process – distribute the effort time and resources to create, manage, and maintain metadata include in grant budget and schedule readability / usability of metadata use a standardized metadata format discipline specific information and ontologies use ‘profile’ standard to require specific information and use specific values 18

19. NASA TE Best Data Management Practices, May 2, 2013 Final thoughts Metadata –It isn't easy –It isn't free –Ask everything But… –Protect your research investment and research legacy 19