ScienceBase Updates - Summer 2022

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Model Application Data Releases Will Now Be Published on ScienceBase As of June 2022, the Integrated Modeling and Prediction Division (IMPD), Model Data Management Function (MDMF) has begun assisting researchers in releasing all new model application data releases on ScienceBase instead of NDSI Node (Water Node). The process for a model application data release on ScienceBase is the same as the process for completing a general data release on ScienceBase; however, model application data release authors will be expected to use the metadata template available on the ScienceBase Resources page of the USGS Water Model Data Management Function SharePoint Site.  Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details The IMPD MDMF is currently in the process of updating the model archive policy and procedures. In the interim, you can visit the MDMF webpages for the latest information and FAQ on the new policy, procedures, and timelines.  The move to ScienceBase aims to use the data release stewardship model fostered by the USGS Science Data Management Branch. The use of ScienceBase also will consolidate the data publication process into an infrastructure that allows transparency and access to multiple data stewards and projects such that groundwater modelers can take part in a larger community of data publication practice.  The shift to releasing the model application data releases on ScienceBase should be fairly easy. The differences from the Water Node publishing are changes to:  overall workflow—when and where the model files will be uploaded.  metadata xml—specifically, the contacts and how the zip files will be handled.  DOI—ScienceBase will update the DOI’s information.  ScienceBase landing page—you will make one for your model application data releases.  MDMF support will continue and be a value-add on top of and in cooperation with the ScienceBase Data Release team.  Please feel free to contact MDMF (doi-mdmf@doimspp.onmicrosoft.com) with any questions or concerns. Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Did You Know? The ScienceBase Data Release team hosts quarterly trainings on the U.S. Geological Survey’s data release and revision processes. The trainings provide users with an overview of the official USGS Fundamental Science Practices (FSP) that drive data release requirements and instructions on how to release and revise data releases in ScienceBase.  Announcements on upcoming trainings can be found on the Training & Resources page within the ScienceBase Data Release SharePoint site. We will also send out reminder emails to the ScienceBase Notify email list, so make sure you are signed up there. Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Recordings and notes from previous trainings can be found within the Resource Library on the ScienceBase Data Release SharePoint site. Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

Featured Data Release Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Befus, K.M., Hoover, D.J., Barnard, P.L., and Erikson, L.H., 2020, Projected responses of the coastal water table for California using present-day and future sea-level rise scenarios: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9H5PBXP.  USGS Data Owner: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center  Sea level rise and related effects in coastal areas is an important area of interest for scientists and the general public. A recent ScienceBase data release used steady-state MODFLOW groundwater flow models to obtain detailed (10-meter-scale) predictions over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers) of groundwater heads for both current and future sea-level rise (SLR) scenarios.  The data release landing page in ScienceBase has been accessed over 15,500 times since its publication in August 2020 and the data have been downloaded over 26,700 times (metrics obtained from the ScienceBase Data Release Summary Dashboard). The story has also been picked up by over 32 news outlets and cited 30 times according to Altmetrics on the related publication.

How to Make Your Data Release More FAIR: Starting with Findable

The FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) guiding principles for data, first outlined in Wilkinson and others (2016), have quickly become a popular way to assess and improve the usability and utility of scientific datasets. However, it can be difficult to glean practical and straightforward ways to implement the principles in your own data releases. We will explore a few small ways to make your data more FAIR in the next few newsletters, starting with Findable. 

Using the ScienceBase data release process ensures that a few of the principles under Findable are already fulfilled for you: we assign and publish your Digital Object Identifier (DOI), assign a persistent identifier (PID) for your metadata, and display a recommended citation on your data release landing page. Here are a few other simple ways to make your data more findable on ScienceBase. 

Include Keywords

An effective and simple way to increase discoverability of your data is to include keywords from a controlled vocabulary (like the USGS Thesaurus) in your metadata. Keywords help categorize your data, allowing people and computers to find data that share important characteristics. For example, if metadata from USGS bathymetric surveys all have the keyword bathymetry, a person can search for bathymetry in a catalog like the Science Data Catalog (SDC) and find all USGS bathymetric data. It can be useful to choose keywords that reflect the scientific discipline, methods, product type, and topics of the dataset in order to make your data discoverable through multiple facets. 

Use Child Items 

If you are releasing data with several data files (for instance, covering different locations or time periods), it can be helpful in some cases to create child items and more granular metadata files for each item. Once your initial landing page is created, you can add child items by logging in and clicking the ‘Add’ button in the top right corner of the landing page, then ‘Add Child Item’: 

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Creating child items and metadata files for each of those items creates more points of discovery through downstream data catalogs like the USGS Science Data Catalog (data.usgs.gov) or data.gov. It’s recommended to create a metadata record describing the data on each child item, as well as an overview metadata file for the main landing page which describes the data release as a whole. 

Create Rich Metadata 

Descriptive metadata helps users to discover the content of a data release. Fields like ‘Title’, ‘Description/Abstract’ and ‘Author/Originator’ are vital for users to identify a specific data release and/or determine whether it is relevant to their work. Titles are especially important for data discovery since they are the main thing users will notice in metadata catalogs (e.g., USGS Science Data Catalog, Data.gov). A good data release title includes the theme, geographic extent, and time period of the data, as applicable. It’s also best to make your data release title unique from any related publications. Other fields that contain information on the publisher, data publication date, data versions, geographic locations, and temporal information are useful for users to find your data release and correctly cite it. 

Example template for a metadata title: [Measurement] of [phenomenon] in [geographic feature] at [geographic location] during [timeframe] 

Include ORCIDs 

In the same way that DOIs act as unique identifiers and reference points for data and manuscript publications, Open Researcher and Contributor Identifiers (ORCIDs) act as unique identifiers for people. ORCIDs are used to link your publications with your name and other personal or professional information. For example, when a reader encounters your name on a data release, they may also encounter an aggregation of your publications linked on your ORCID profile and learn more about your expertise and research. Your ORCID profile serves as an additional discovery point for your research products. You can add your ORCID to your data release’s landing page and/or metadata, in the abstract or originator fields. 

Finalize IPDS Records 

After a USGS information product has been published, it’s important to add the product’s bibliographic information to the associated record in the USGS’ internal Integrated Product Development System (IPDS). When an author or steward transitions an IPDS record from ‘Dissemination’ to the ‘Disseminated’ state, the product becomes available for display in on USGS.gov. USGS websites pull information on research products from the IPDS record for that product, such as the release date, or the date that the IPDS record changed to the status ‘Disseminated’.

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