graybeal's blog

OK, so it doesn't take long to make the point here: I think this OOI Cyberinfrastructure is a cool project, and if you're a sophisticated data management or cyberinfrastructure person, you probably will too. This is your classic 'rich metadata' environment. There are a significant number of new positions, and the hiring pace is picking up now. So if this might be the thing for you, get in gear and apply already. Help this leading-edge project be successful!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I got a computer-generated phone call that I actually enjoyed. Well, in a wonky sort of way.

I was describing good future data practices to a panel considering ocean science needs for 2030, and was asked a good question after the talk: What are the qualities of a 'good' data system?

Hopefully our Guides on MMI give some ideas about that question, but the Guides are really focused on metadata. And they don't put it all in a neat summary.

So here are my proposals for what makes a good data system, with suitable weasel words for the wide array of projects that need data systems.

Introduction

Without having extensively surveyed the literature, these are some thoughts I've put together (as part of my OOI Cyberinfrastructure job) on what it means to talk about a data product version. Your comments are appreciated.

In this document, I call a Version a form of relationship in which one thing is the same as another in some conceptual sense, but has differences as the result of other attributes not being the same. To be specific:

For those of you seeing this on the front page of MMI: I'm using this post to call attention to MMI blogs. If you're a member you can blog about metadata things on MMI. Ask us if you need help!

This Periodic Table of Visualization Methods is either not at all about metadata, or all about it. It sure is all about interoperability! The table has a remarkable amount of depth, even after you have discovered that mousing over an entry brings up an example of the corresponding visualization.

MBARI has done something I consider impressive in the scientific data management realm, and I want to toot their horn a little, so a blog entry seemed good for that. (Disclosure: I was hired in part to start up the project discussed below, and have gotten to claim part of its success despite contributing relatively little to it technically over the years.)

OK, it's time to put the data/metadataData about data. Metadata provides a context for research findings, ideally in a machine-readable format. It enables discovery of data via an electronic interface, and correct use and attribution of findings. Related Guide question to bed, once and for all.  You know the one:

Do we call that data, or metadata?