RDA Metadata Standardization and Data User Benefits

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RDA Metadata Standardization and Data User
Benefits
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Search and Discovery Metadata

• Allows geosciences researchers to find RDA
  datasets and determine their potential usefulness
• Everything we believe is necessary to fully
  describe a dataset
• DSS has been collecting metadata for more than 20
  years

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Search and Discovery Metadata (contd)

• Then
• Specialists would follow loose rules for entering
  metadata
• In-house keyword lists were developed but could
  be added to by anyone at any time
• Metadata fields were not strictly controlled so
  much flexibility existed in how and what
  information was entered
• Saved to flat-ASCII files
• The diversity in the metadata and the way it was
  stored made building search interfaces and
  exporting for other projects difficult

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Search and Discovery Metadata (contd)

• Now
• Guided entry via a Web-based GUI
• Use controlled vocabularies (GCMD, ISO, THREDDS)
• locally-defined where community alternatives
  dont exist)
• Validation against an XML schema
• Saved to a mysql database (and XML files as
  backup)
• Exportable to DIF (NASA GCMD), THREDDS (UCAR
  CDP) can include others as needed
• Easy to create user interfaces that search the
  metadata and return relevant results

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File Content Metadata

• New - we have not previously maintained
  standardized file content metadata
• Scan a data file inventory its contents
• Command-line utilities read the data files and
  extract the metadata
• Metadata are saved to a mysql database and a
  system of XML files
• Provides more detailed and up-to-date
  search/discovery metadata, leading to better
  (more relevant) results when searching for
  datasets
• Facilitates the discovery of specific data files
  within an RDA dataset

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User Interfaces

• Better consistency in the information shown on
  the dataset home pages
• Browsing/Searching to identify candidate datasets
• Look For Data feature allows users to drill
  through the metadata
• Google-like search accepts keywords to match to
  indexed metadata
• Search results are ordered by relevance, which is
  determined by the metadata
• Data file lists that can be customized
• Detailed metadata views that graphically show
  geospatial coverage, connect parameters/levels/tem
  poral periods, etc.

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