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LCA Metadata: Challenges and Opportunities
Melissa Lohrey, Metadata Librarian
LAC Group, USDA-National Agricultural Library [email protected]
- Provide information such as a descriptive title for your data;
names of data generators, owners, and documenters;
date ranges; geographic granularity; and keywords to
help users find your data in LCI databases
- Assign a DOI – Digital Object Identifier – or other persistent
identifier to your data to ensure long-term digital access
- Include your data’s DOI in any publications you
author that reference the data
- Register an ORCID – Open Researcher and Contributor
ID – to connect your name with your research
- Indicate whether the data were peer-reviewed
- Describe data quality measures
- Include descriptions of parameters, formulas, and
methods to increase transparency
- Provide your affiliation, source of funding, and
disclose any conflicts of interest
- Store data in open, machine-readable formats
(e.g. XML, JSON, CSV)
- Document data using existing LCA metadata
standards (EcoSpold, ILCD)
- Create metadata with dedicated LCI software (openLCA,
SimaPro, ecoinvent, ILCD editor, etc.)
- Name unit processes, flows, units, etc. according to
established naming conventions
- Submit data to an LCI database or network (LCA Commons,
openLCA Nexus, ILCD Network, ecoinvent), or a general
research database (Dryad, institutional repositories, etc.)
- Describe why the data was collected, the issue it is
trying to address, and its intended applications
- Create a data dictionary that explains information such as
variable names, data types, and nomenclature
- Detail methods and processes such as sampling procedures,
data collection protocols, modeling constants, LCI methods, and
more to allow users to assess the data’s integrity and applicability
- Link to an associated publication for complete information about the data
- Provide researchers with a citation statement for your data
- Assign a license to your data, e.g. Creative Commons, that describes
what users are legally permitted to do with it
- Provide a statement outlining what the data should NOT
be used for to guard against improper use
- Provide the name and contact information of the
dataset owner for questions about permissible use
- Describe the software used to generate your data, your data’s file format(s),
and other technical information to allow users to access your data in the future
Connecting Data
TrustingData
Finding Data
Understanding Data
Using Data
Impact
More usable data
Increased research funding
Increased citations /
impact factor
Better analysis of & access to publications
that reference the data
Connections with potential collaborators
Greater data visibility
Faster and more accurate data retrieval
More consistent,
shareable data
Greater protection
against data misuse
Enhanced access to
historical data
AcknowledgementsMany thanks to my colleagues at USDA-NAL for sharing their creativity, intellect, and moral support throughout this project: Peter Arbuckle, Ezra Kahn, Susan McCarthy, Jeff Campbell, Cynthia Parr, Gary Moore, Chris Childers
References
1) European Commission – Joint Research Centre – Institute for Environment and Sustainability (2010). International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) –Documentation of LCA Data Sets. Version 1. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. DOI: 10.2788/9588
2) Greenberg, J., White, H.C., Carrier, S. & R. Scherle (2009). A Metadata Best Practice for a Scientific Data Repository. Journal of Library Metadata, 9:3-4, 194-212. DOI: 10.1080/19386380903405090
3) Harvey, R. (2010). Digital Curation: A How-To-Do-It Manual. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.
4) University of Oregon Libraries, Westra, B. (2013). Metadata and Data Documentation. Retrieved from https://library.uoregon.edu/datamanagement/metadata.html on September 20th, 2014.
