USGS Metadata in the Broader Picture 1994 Executive Order – Metadata must be created for all Federally-funded research – Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) established – FGDC developed and released the “Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata” Metadata is mentioned in USGS FSP policy: SM502.2 – Planning and Conducting Data Collection and Research

Example of FGDC metadata record Includes detailed information about a dataset: Purpose Methodology Data sources Entities and attributes Geographic location Access and Use constraints Distribution information And more…

2013: Open Data Initiatives May 9: Office of Management and Budget: “Open Data Policy—Managing Information as an Asset” (M ) May 9: Executive Order: “Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information” Highlights: Data must be accessible (in open formats) Data must be described Data must be reusable Complete (published in “primary form” with finest level of granularity) Timely Managed post-release February 22: Office of Science and Technology Policy: “Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research” Requires a plan to support increased public access to the results of research (scholarly publications and science data) funded by the Federal Government

Metadata is foundational in Open Data Several new USGS Survey Manual chapters in development – Includes a chapter on metadata: “502.7 Fundamental Science Practices: Metadata for Scientific Data, Software, and Other Information Products” – Also includes a chapter on data release, which depends on good metadata on principle Good tools and applications are important to make documentation of our data -- using established standards -- an easier and more efficient process for USGS scientists