Metadata
Metadata (i.e., information about our data collections that help others discover, understand, and use them) are essential for maximizing the usefulness of data. Because it is often impossible for secondary researchers to ask questions of the original data producers, metadata are the de facto form of communication between them. Comprehensive metadata standardizes how the data are described, enables a deeper comprehension of a dataset, facilitates data searches by variables, and offers a variety of display options on the Web.
ICPSR creates metadata primarily from information supplied by data depositors. Metadata creation, enhancement, and quality review is a team effort and involves staff from across all of ICPSR. All metadata records are reviewed and approved by Metadata & Preservation unit archivists, who check for adherence to standards and advise on all metadata-related activities during the data curation lifecycle.
The ICPSR Metadata Documentation Portal is the official source of information for ICPSR metadata. The Portal includes:
- Descriptions of each supported metadata element, including whether it is mandatory or optional, and whether it may be repeated.
- Accepted values (e.g., text, numbers).
- Controlled vocabularies, when used.
- Usage notes -- i.e., additional information about the nature, scope and conventions for values.
- Examples of valid values for each metadata element.
- A machine-actionable JSON Schema version.
- A style guide outlining the ICPSR style, grammar, and general usage conventions for writing and editing metadata records.
Whenever possible, ICPSR uses existing metadata standards to describe our collections. ICPSR’s core study-level metadata are based on the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI), a widely adopted metadata standard for the social and behavioral sciences, which ICPSR helped establish and now leads.