Workflow: Overview

Suggested Workflow for SA Metadata and mdEditor

The following is a suggested workflow for using mdEditor to create, publish, and save metadata records for SA projects and products.

1. Gather information

Have information about your contacts, projects, and products on hand before you begin creating metadata records. Key information to gather includes project proposals, funding agreements and amounts, project reports, product information, and contact information for individuals and organizations involved in the projects.

2. Open mdEditor

The direct link to mdEditor is https://go.mdeditor.org. Choose the browser you plan to use for mdEditor and bookmark this link.

mdEditor can also be accessed from its homepage at https://www.mdeditor.org/. This site provides some background information and Frequently Asked Questions about mdEditor.

Always hit Refresh in your browser before each work session (and periodically throughout the session) to ensure that you are using the most updated version of mdEditor.

3. Adjust settings

In mdEditor settings, set the SA-specific settings for importing from ScienceBase, Metadata Repositories, and Publishing (See Settings).

4. Create or import contacts

Contacts must be created or uploaded before they can be added to project and product metadata records using the Contacts entry form in mdEditor.

Use the “contacts seed file” that contains pre-filled information and standard naming conventions for all SA regions, common federal agencies, and the SA Network Data Steward. (link to contact seed file here)

5. Create or import projects

For creating or importing metadata for a project use one of the following options based on whether or not you have already created a mdEditor project record.

  1. If you do not have existing ScienceBase project records, create an mdEditor project record from scratch using the Metadata from Scratch workflow.

  2. If you have an existing ScienceBase project record that has not been edited in mdEditor, import the ScienceBase record to create a new mdEditor record using the Metadata from ScienceBase workflow.

  3. If you have already created an mdEditor record for the project, import the mdEditor file to Metadata Editing / Re-Publishing workflow to continue editing.

6. Create or import products

For creating or importing metadata for a product use one of the following options based on whether or not you have already created a mdEditor project record.

  1. If you do not have existing ScienceBase product records, create an mdEditor project record from scratch using the Metadata from Scratch workflow.

  2. If you have an existing ScienceBase product record that has not been edited in mdEditor, import the ScienceBase record to create a new mdEditor record using the Metadata from ScienceBase workflow.

  3. If you have already created an mdEditor record for the product, import the mdEditor file to Metadata Editing / Re-Publishing workflow to continue editing.

7. Create or import data dictionaries

If a product record has a need for data dictionaries, create or import one.

8. Complete metadata

Decide on your desired file management approach and complete your metadata accordingly. See the File Management section for options and instructions.

9. Create associations

For projects and/or products, associations can be either associated from a project or associated from a product.

10. Publish your records

From the mdEditor interface, publish the records to ScienceBase.

11. Export your records

Use the Export function to export records of your products, projects, and contacts for backup, transfer, or sharing. You may want to export working backups before publishing depending on your situation, but archival exports should be done after publishing since publishing can alter records, like adding or changing a ScienceBase ID.

12. Review Science Catalog

The SA Science Catalog updates overnight so you should review newly-published records the day after you publish to ScienceBase. This will be one of your best quality control checks.

13. Consult QA/QC resources.

See the QA/QC Fixes page for suggestions about updating your data to check your metadata.