Cataloging, Metadata, Standards, and Data Delivery
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Decisions about inventory methods for samples and about criteria for metadata have the potential to profoundly affect the value that is added to and retained by physical earth science samples and the data derived from them. The term “metadata” has various uses and meanings, even within restricted disciplines. With respect to physical samples and the data derived from them, the term commonly means information that bears of the physical nature, condition, location, and circumstances of acquisition of a physical sample; and on the type and reliability of the analytical data or other measured information that drive from a sample or from suites of samples.
The USGS ReSciColl
ReSciColl (Registry of Scientific Collections), formerly the National Digital Catalog, serves as a metadata repository for geoscientific physical samples inventoried and archived by state geological surveys and the USGS. The application, ReSciColl Map, provides keyword search functions and point-and-click access to over 3 million metadata records that have been uploaded and made publicly available in ReSciColl. The ReSciColl Dashboard application enables USGS and state geological survey representatives to describe and catalog geoscience collections and individual items within the collections. The Dashboard selectively displays only the metadata elements relevant to geoscience collections, derived from the ScienceBase data model. The ScienceBase data management infrastructure is developed by the USGS for use by USGS and partner scientific efforts. ScienceBase offers many advanced features, including automated generation of web services, security settings, public access and use, flexible metadata formats (from standards-compliant formats to various schemas, including NGGDPP), data/metadata ingestion methods, spatial geometry assignment and services, directory services promoting discovery of scientists and organizations, vocabulary services, and more.