FCE Data Distribution Policy- As a member of the Long
Term Ecological Research Network, the Florida Coastal
Everglades LTER Program is committed to providing access to
research data collected under the support of our project in
a timely fashion. Data and information derived from
publicly funded research in the U.S. LTER Network, totally
or partially from LTER funds from NSF, Institutional
Cost-Share, or Partner Agency or Institution where a formal
memorandum of understanding with LTER has been established,
are made available online with as few restrictions as
possible, on a nondiscriminatory basis. The FCE LTER Data
Management Group will make "unlocked" FCE LTER data and
metadata available for on line access via the web according
to the data availability status as defined by the following
data 'Types' found in this document.
FCE Data
Management Policy (pdf) (Updated 3/22/06) - The
FCE LTER Data Management Group has established a set of
protocols and services for data collection, quality
assurance, organization, data archive, data access, and
data distribution to facilitate our scientific work. A full
description of the FCE Information Management System (IMS)
topics are found in this document: IMS objectives, FCE
research project management, data collection protocols,
quality assurance procedures, data organization
description, data archive and protection procedures, data
distribution information, and the FCE data user
agreement.
Data Submission Information (pdf) (Updated
1/4/06) - To ensure that FCE LTER data are properly
archived and protected, researchers are strongly encouraged
to routinely submit data from ongoing research to the FCE
LTER Information Manager. The FCE LTER Data Management
Group has created this comprehensive document to provide
detailed information to our researchers about WHAT
information needs to be contributed to the IMS, WHEN the
information should be submitted and how to send documents
to the FCE Information Manager.
Basic Data Submission Steps:
Researchers submit two (2) files to the FCE Information
Manager: 1) Data file in either Microsoft Excel (.xls)
format or delimited ASCII text (.txt) formats and 2)
accompanying Microsoft Excel FCE EML metadata template
file. File names must follow naming convention set out in
data submission document.
1) Download the
FCE
EML metadata template and complete all pertinent
sections
2) Perform quality assurance on data file and
accompanying metadata before data submission to the
Information Manager.
3) Submit data files and completed FCE EML metadata
template to the FCE Information Manager via email at
powell@fiu.edu, FTP server upload at
ftp://epoch.cs.fiu.edu/LTER_Data/ or digital media (mailed
or delivered).
Basic Project Information Submission Steps:
Researchers are strongly encouraged to submit FCE LTER
Project information via a project information form
(
http://fcelter.fiu.edu/data/FCE_Project_Information_Form_2007.doc)
to the Information Manager within 6 months of the project
commencement.
1) Determine whether the project is an FCE LTER
Project, FCE LTER Related Project or a hybrid of the
two.
2) Complete the project information form found on the
FCE intranet site or on the FCE public site, making
sure that all information fields are populated.
3) Submit form to the FCE Information Manager via email
at powell@fiu.edu or upload to the FCE FTP server at
ftp://epoch.cs.fiu.edu/LTER_Data/.
EML Metadata template (xls) - The FCE LTER
Information Management Group has created an EML Metadata
Template, available in Microsoft Excel (.xls) format,
which follows the EML content standard and is based on
the LTER EML Best Practices Tier 5 (EXCEPT for the
"Constraint" Element (September, 2004)). All pertinent
sections of the metadata template must be completed and
verified by the researcher. This metadata must accompany
a corresponding data files when submitted to the FCE
Information Manager.
EML
Metadata template example for LT_ND_Grahl_002 - This
is an example of a completed FCE EML Metadata Template.
Although the original EML Metadata Template contains
helpful comments on what type of information is expected
for each information field, this example is meant to
provide additional help with metadata entries.
FCE Project Information form (Word document)
(Updated 3/27/07) - The FCE Information Management
System (IMS) is committed to collection and organization of
FCE LTER project information. The project information we
collect is included on the FCE LTER web site:
Researchers are asked to submit FCE LTER project
information, via a project information form, to the FCE
Information Manager upon notification of project funding,
but within 6 months of notification of project funding.
Additionally, researchers will also be asked to update
their project information annually. Please e-mail completed
forms to Linda Powell (powell@fiu.edu)
