ISO 19139 metadata records generated at DISL for DISL-associated projects should include the following features:
1. File Identifier
The file identifier should be in the following format:
DISL - PI - Student or Project - ### - year
PI is the last name of the faculty member in charge of the lab that produced the dataset.
Student or Project: Student is the name of the student, postdoc, or research staff who collected the dataset or oversaw its collection. Project is the overall research program that includes the dataset.
### is the metadata record number for the particular student or project. If Maury Estes has two datasets documented, the metadata records would be 001 and 002.
Year is the year that the metadata record was published.
Examples:
DISL-Carmichael-Estes-001-2016
DISL-Carmichael-ALMMSN-002-2016
The file identifier will also be the eventual filename of the combined metadata record as it appears in the DISL Metadata Archive.
2. Abstract vs Purpose
Your abstract should be a description of the dataset itself - what kind of data is included, where and what timeframe, etc.
Your purpose is where you describe the study for which you collected the dataset. You do not need to justify the existence of the dataset in your purpose - it already exists, you are now documenting it.
3. Date, Time, and Location
Date, time, and location information in the dataset may be in any format you like. Please specify in the Feature Catalogue. Metadata about time should include timezone and whether Daylight Savings was accounted for.
Date, time, and location information in an ISO 19115-2 metadata record has specific formatting requirements. All dates and times in the metadata must be YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS. Latitude and longitude must be decimal degrees.
4. Place Keywords
Please include "DISL" and "Dauphin Island Sea Lab" in the place keywords. This will allow DISL Data Management to more easily locate metadata records that originated at DISL after the metadata records have been submitted to other repositories.
5. Citations
When citing other publications, please include the full citation. "Carmichael et al (2016)" alone is insufficient for locating the publication beng cited.
6. Dataset Items
In scientific papers, every method must have a result, and every result must have a method. For metadata records, any data you mention in the Abstract, Purpose, Data Quality/Methodology, etc. should be an available item in the Feature Catalogue.
In ISO 19139, the Feature Catalogue is a separate document (ISO 19110) that is cited in the main metadata record. Long-established labs with many datasets organized in the same way regardless of project may opt to create a single Feature Catalogue that includes everything. The Feature Catalogue in this case may include items that are not part of a specific dataset.
7. Browse Graphics
Browse Graphics are highly recommended when information about your dataset would best be presented visually, e.g. a study area map for field-collected datasets, or a diagram of experimental design for data from complex lab or mesocosm experiments.
8. Use Constraints
This space is intended for copyright licensing, legal restrictions, etc. for how the data may be used by others. It may include a formal data sharing plan. DISL Data Management has a default template that requires other data users to acknowledge the funding agencies.
9. Contact Information
In the completed metadata record, the first Responsible Party at the top is the author or custodian of the metadata record.
Responsible Parties for the dataset are listed below the abstract and purpose. There may be as many different individuals or organizations listed as is needed, each with a different role (e.g. principal investigator, originator, author, custodian, point of contact, etc).
10. Miscellaneous Credits
ISO 19115-2 has a general purpose credit tag that may be used to acknowledge any additional personnel or organizations involved in collecting, processing, analyzing, or funding the data. Multiple credit tags are allowed.
DISL Data Management recommends including the name of the lab where the dataset originated, in the format "DISL: Name of Lab."