Metadata Guidance

Metadata Guidance#

The metadata standard used to describe your data will be determined by the repository you archive at. Regardless of the standard, the following 10 fields should always accompany a dataset:

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Field

What to include

1

Title

What, where, when

2

Abstract

What, where, when, how, why, who; instrumentation; file types/formats; funding source

3

Keywords

Terms assigned from a controlled vocabulary (e.g. GCMD, NERC)

4

Personnel

Who produced the data; contact for the resource

5

Lineage / Methodology

How the data were created or processed

6

Quality

Accuracy information; instrument calibrations; factors affecting the data

7

Spatial Information

What spatial location the data represents

8

Temporal Information

What time period the data represents

9

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

The DOI/persistent identifier

10

Link to the Data

The URL the holds the direct download to the data