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What is “Structural Metadata”?
Simply put, structural metadata describes the variables within a dataset and how they are organised.
What do I need to include?
We recommend you provide a data dictionary of structural metadata that includes the following information:
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Metadata Field
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Completion Guidance
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Constraints
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Mandatory?
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Table Name
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Name of the table in the dataset. Use a fully qualified name if appropriate.
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255 characters max
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Yes
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Table Description
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Description of the table in the dataset.
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20,000 characters max
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No
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Column Name
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Name of the column in the table dataset
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255 characters max
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Yes
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Column Description
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Description of the column in the table dataset.
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20,000 characters max
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No
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Data Type Name
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Type of data contained in the column.
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255 characters max
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Yes
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Sensitive
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Please indicate (True / False) whether the information must be treated as sensitive and may need additional constraints / removal / anonymisation / masking through the data access request process.
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True / False only.
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Yes
Where can I see some examples of valid Structural Metadata?
Please see the following example for your reference.
If you require further clarification, we also have several fully populated submissions from other sites that we would be happy to walk through with you. Please contact us via Service Desk to arrange a session.
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Structural Metadata Example
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Table Name
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Table Description
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Column Name
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Column Description
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Data Type
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Sensitive
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Summary
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The summary
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Identifier
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The identifier
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String
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TRUE
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Summary
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The summary
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Title
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The title
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String
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FALSE
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Summary
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The summary
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Description
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The description
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String
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TRUE
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Required
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The required elements
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Release Date
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The release date
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Date
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FALSE
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Required
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The required elements
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Data Controller
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The controller
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String
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FALSE
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Required
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The required elements
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Data Processor
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The data processor
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String
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TRUE
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Required
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The required elements
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License
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The license
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String
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FALSE
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Recommended
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The recommended elements
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Periodicity
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The periodicity
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Integer
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TRUE
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Recommended
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The recommended elements
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Frequency
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The frequency
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String
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FALSE
What format should this be in?
The standard format required is an excel file which includes the Metadata Fields listed in the table above (Table Name, Table Description, Column Name, Column Description, Data Type, Sensitive).
Please see this template file, which is also available on the Onboarder:
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Is an Excel spreadsheet the only way I can upload metadata?
Definitely not!
This simple excel template is used as the low common denominator to make our interface as accessible as possible.
However, there are several different methods that supervisors can use to consume and update metadata. We've already used a few of these different formats, on request, with other clients:
REST API that accepts well-formed XML, such as these:
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In DSRC Data Standards this takes the form of a Data Dictionary.
The Data Dictionary is organised into Data Classes.
A Data Class, or a table, is a collection of one or more Data Elements and/or child Data Classes.
The definitions, including rules and constraints for valid values for all Data Elements are defined using the following metamodel:
Name: the name of the data class
Description: a description of the data class
Data Elements: data elements contained with the class
Child Classes: data classes contained within the class
Cardinality: the number of times a data class can occur within a group
Level: Could, Should, Must
Metadata: any additional metadata associated with the data class
Relationships: related data classes or elements (which may reside in another standard)
A Data Element is the logical definition of a unit of data such as:
a column in a database table
a field in a form
an element in an XML schema
The definitions, including rules and constraints for valid values for all Data Elements are defined using the following metamodel:
Name: the name of the data element
Description: a description of the data class
Data type: the constraint on the data element e.g. integer, string
Cardinality: the number of times an lement can occur within a group
Level: Could, Should, Must
Metadata: any additional metadata associated with the data element
Relationships: related data classes or elements (which may reside in another standard), including child/parent relationships
Data Elements contain a Data Type which specifies the input value of the element e.g. varchar or datetime.
Name: the name of the data type
Description: a description of the data type, if applicable
Type
Simple - e.g. varchar, string, integer
Enumerated - a list of possible values
Reference
Relationships: to other data types or data element
