DATA DICTIONARY (OR STRUCTURAL METADATA)
- Charlotte Reynolds
What is “Structural Metadata”?
Structural metadata describes the variables within a dataset. This was previously referred to as Technical Metadata.
What do I need to include?
We recommend sites to provide a data dictionary of structural metadata that includes the following information:
Metadata Field | Completion Guidance | Constraints | Mandatory? |
|---|---|---|---|
Data Class | Name of the table in the dataset. Use a fully qualified name if appropriate. | 255 characters max | Yes |
Data Class Description | Description of the table in the dataset. | 20,000 characters max | Yes |
Data Element | Name of the column/variable in the table dataset | 255 characters max | Yes |
Data Element Description | Description of the column in the table dataset. | 20,000 characters max | Yes |
Data Type | Type of data contained in the column. | 255 characters max | Yes |
Measurement Unit | Unit of measure UDI enumerations includes SI, SI derived and a few others: https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/udunits/udunits-2.2.28/udunits2.html#Database |
| No |