Documentation Cluster Minutes 2016-03-28

Agenda/Minutes

Presentation

Principles for Metadata Creation - Matt Mayernik

• principles may formalize data management and metadata education
• "respect des fonds" - respecting the original order
• provenance - maintain the trail of changes, who, when before and during the curation process
• authorship as an access point - derived from traditional library cataloging

publications:

• Paris Principles (1961)
• Resource Description and Access (RDA, 2014)
• Describing Archives, a Content Standard (DACS, 2013)
• LIS Metadata principles table
• EML and ISO 19115-2:214 - doesn't have any principles published in doc
• common to find descriptions of functions and what metadata should be achieving
• differences between prinicples (how), goals (why) and functions (what)
• RDA Metadata WG published some metadata principles --
• Geo Data Management Principles

Questions to Discuss:

1. What are the principles of metadata creation for scientific data?
2. how can principles inform future standards devel?
3. Should ESIP Doc Cluster work on a set of principles?

Discussion Topics

• Should this cluster define metadata principles for earth science data?
  • This is something that Earth Cube will be addressing in near future.
  • Why and How high level could useful
  • a lot of this type of info is in the doc cluster wiki, but it's not distilled.
  • How does defining principles work? -- tends to an international level of activity in past. Maybe first step is collating the statements into one doc so we can look at them all the same time... What can be modified/adopted for this community?
  • Scientific data community has recently published Data Management Principles, but not specific to metadata and very high level... They examined their documentation and distilled out what was valuable to the EC community.
  • Matt may be able to join summer meeting remotely - will be back to work mid-July. Maybe a working group session during ESIP summer?
  • Bob - principles are particularly useful when attached to a standard - e.g. ACDD principles. e.g. computer to computer understanding ==> standard vocabularies. Maybe Ted can do this with ISO Standards.
  • can the principles apply to any standard generally and then the standards can highlight the principles of that standard

Next Steps:

1. Gather existing materials in wiki
2. Discuss in a Session

* Summer Session Plans

• Metadata Lab - is ESIP the right forum for this? ESIP is pretty aware of what's needed and why it's important and it might fit better for a particular community. Might be "preaching to choir".
  • The idea of the lab is to have a particular problem that can be worked out, more so than metadata 101
  • who is willing to "wear a lab coat"? Sean is. Bob's not going...
  • Annie: to make this relevant - are there any synergies with other clusters? Link to other clusters: Climate issues, semantics, search relevancy, events ... People can teach and learn from each other.

• Develop principles around metadata for events

Annie will send out 'how to' propose session. Deadline THIS Friday is a placeholder with enough information to schedule meeting. End of May/early June - the abstract can be fleshed out and speakers, etc. Right now need titles and basic information. Annie and Erin will go through sessions to organize as needed... e.g. possibly combine. No rejections