Glossary of Terms

IT-specific terms are available here: Glossary of Terms

• Standards: Summary of units and data fields that facilitate aggregation of data through the WDI so that we have a common format (and minimal set of details) that information is being reported/displayed.

  • Data standards describe the kinds of information we want to include for a given dataset/data type. For example, for groundwater levels, this would capture information about date, depth below to ground surface, etc.

  • Metadata standards describe the format in which data is collected or recorded (e.g., YYYY-MM-DD for dates and feet for depth below ground surface).

    • Descriptive metadata describes a resource for purposes such as discovery and identification. It can include elements such as title, abstract, author, and keywords.

      • Structural metadata indicates how compound objects are put together, for example, how pages are ordered to form chapters.

      • Administrative metadata provides information to help manage a resource, such as when and how it was created, file type and other technical information, and who can access it. There are several subsets of administrative data; two that are sometimes listed as separate metadata types are:

        • Rights management metadata, which deals with intellectual property rights,
          and

        • Preservation metadata, which contains information needed to archive and preserve a resource.

  • Units within original data sources can be of any format but should be well-described to facilitate integration.

• Crosswalks describe how information within original data sources align with the data and metadata standards (e.g., see example here: …)

• Dictionary describe the column names, format of information, and can include a description of units where necessary.