U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey USGS Data.Gov Interim Process and Guidelines 1

U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Proposed USGS Data.Gov Interim Process For the Council on Data Integration By the Data.Gov Work Group Draft February 9,

Part of President Obama’s Open Government Initiative (Presidential Memorandum “Transparency and Open Government”, dated 1/21/2009) “ Information should be disclosed rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use” Data.Gov: Allows public to easily find, download, and use federal datasets and tools Provides transformational potential for federal data dissemination strategies and incorporating semantic web

4 Value to USGS -Channel for new markets -Broadens access -Fosters research and innovative “mashups” -Catalyst for improved data management in USGS

5 Charge: Establish an interim process for USGS submissions to Data.gov that is consistent with USGS policies, mission, and Science Strategy and is more effective and efficient than that currently in place. Position USGS to move toward longer term publishing process. Work Group: Karen Klima (HQ GIO-SIEO), Sky Bristol (CR-GIO), David Federer (CR GD-ERP), David Govoni (HQ GIO-SIEO), Kate Kase (BRD—NBII), Keith Kirk (EPN), Scott McEwen (CR GIO), Edward McFaul (HQ GD), Douglas Nebert (FGDC), Raymond Obuch (USGS EA), Robert Pierce (HQ GIO-EGIM Geospatial Advisor), Peter Schweitzer (ER GD-MRP), Ione Taylor (FSP) Community of Practice: (in addition to above) Fran Lightsom, Richard Huffine, Chris Skinner, others Project Scope

6 USGS Data.Gov Strategy Present: Ad hoc publishing of USGS data to Data.gov as required Short Term: Establish interim USGS data publishing process for Data.gov to improve efficiency and encourage participation Longer Term: Develop internal data publishing process for USGS to inventory, harvest, understand, protect, and share its data with others, including Data.gov

Proposed Interim Data Publishing Process 7 Proposed Governance: Data.Gov Points of Contact Data Access Coordinators USGS Data.Gov Advisory Group Proposed Tools: Screening Checklist High Value Ranking Criteria Performance Management Nominate Who: Any USGS employee or the public via Data.gov Evaluate Who: Data Access Coordinators for originating Program Select Who: Program Manager From Originating Program Publish Who: USGS or GOS POC with Office of Communication review Assign Who: USGS Data.gov POCs or Data Access Coordinators

USGS Data.gov Points of Contact Karen Klima and Rob Dollison Represent USGS at DOI and Data.Gov meetings On behalf of the USGS Chief Information Officer, coordinate USGS response to DOI and Data.Gov policies and requirements Transmit USGS data sets to DOI for publishing in Data.gov Review and coordinate Data.gov customer s and feedback Lead USGS Data.Gov Advisory Group 8

Data Access Coordinators Route and track Data Set requests Assist Managers in identifying high value data sets Screen and evaluate Data Set requests Assist data owners in metadata preparation and maintenance in data.gov Serve on USGS Data.gov Team 9

Candidate Data Access Coordinators Disciplines Geology – Jerry (Edward) McFaul  Water – Katherine Lins  Biology  Geography Science Strategy Planning and Implementation Teams  Global Change  Hazards 10

Proposed USGS Data.gov Advisory Group Purpose: Govern the USGS data.gov process, interpret guidelines, address issues, manage change, and participate in long term planning Members: USGS Points of Contact USGS Data Access Coordinators Council on Data Integration Representative Office of Communication 11

Suitability Checklist Suitability applies specifically to USGS datasets proposed for publication and access through Data.gov. All datasets and tools must conform to the following criteria: Published in compliance with the USGS Fundamental Science Practices Made available to the public with no access restrictions and at no cost Full compliance with the relevant elements of the Data.gov data policy All “geodata” metadata conforms to the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Content Standard for Geospatial Metadata USGS is the authoritative source of the dataset Data is a product of the Federal government, currently available on a Federal Agency website Data steward and/or authoritative source for data maintains version control and meets applicable record retention requirements Dataset is not bound by restrictions over its end use Metadata includes a preferred citation for use by end users to acknowledge that data was retrieved from the USGS Any reasonable cautions or caveats relating to the safe or appropriate use of the data should be included in its metadata - disclaimers should also be posted on primary web access point 12

High Value Criteria Managers and Data Coordinators will be use these criteria to identify and target USGS data sets with high value for Data.Gov. Supports Secretary’s priorities (i.e. climate change, alternative energy, water challenges, or national heritage) Importance and alignment to the USGS Science Strategy Potential utility in contributing to the creation of novel and useful third-party applications and services Low risk for misuse Potential societal impact Breadth of coverage (National vs Local) General appeal in both the public and private sectors 13

Proposed Performance Management Outputs/Milestones  Publish Interim Publishing Process Memo and Policy  Develop Internal USGS Data.gov website  Establish Governance  Evaluation of version 1.0  Third and Fourth Quarter reports to CDI and ELT Outcomes  All Secretarial priorities are supported by at least one USGS Data Set  All major programs have selected at least one high value Data Set  Total number of USGS Data Sets (Nominated/Submitted/Approved)  Percentage of Data Sets in open, machine readable formats  All USGS Data.gov published Geodata is published via GOS 14

Further Considerations Provide salary assistance for Data Access Coordinators Evolve Data.gov process to integrate with legacy cataloging systems Use key words on data.gov metadata template to classify USGS data by program Potential role of Science Data Catalog (renamed Science Base) url: data.usgs.gov as a Bureau common data catalog Potential role of IPDS and EPN in metadata creation 15

16 1.CDI approval (February-March) 2.ELT approval (March-April) 3.Establish Data.gov Advisory Group and Data Coordinators (February-March) 4.Release of All Hands Memo and website (March-April) 5.Kick-off Interim Data.Gov Process (April-May) 6.Ongoing development of long term Data.gov policy Next Steps