SMARTech Metadata Template

Please provide metadata and documentation about your dataset so future users know enough about your research and how the data were collected to use these data in their own work. We have listed examples of the types of information you could provide, but you may include additional documentation beyond what is suggested. Consider what types of information you would need in order to use someone else’s data, and ensure that you have recorded that information here.

Documenting this information is required for submission of your data to Georgia Tech's institutional repository. A downloadable, editable template (clicking on this link will start the download) is available for your convenience. 

Information for SMARTech Record

  • Title* – Please list your preferred title for the dataset.
  • Creator(s)* - Please list all researchers on the project. For each person, include the role of each researcher (Principal Investigator, Co Principal Investigator, Senior Personnel, Graduate Assistant, etc.) and their institutional, college, school, department, or lab/center affiliation.
  • College, School, Department, Lab, or Center* – Please list the institutional affiliations and associations for these data, as specifically as possible.
  • Description* - Please provide a brief summary outlining the contents of the data file. Indicate the following as appropriate: purpose and scope; time period; areas of investigation; and any other special characteristics.
  • Abstract* - Please describe the data as well as the purpose of the data. You may use the description or abstract from a related publication or from your research proposal for this.
  • Subject/Keywords*
  • Date data were made publically available*
  • Sponsorship - Agency or agencies that sponsored or funded the collection or compilation of the data, including the grant number(s) if applicable.
  • Publications related to dataset - Include full citation to articles published based on these data or related to these data.

*These fields are required when submitting a dataset. 

Information for README file

  • Name of contact person – Indicate who will be the primary point of contact for the dataset.
  • Email and phone number for contact person
  • Format of data files
  • Location where data were collected – Please be as specific as possible about the geographic coverage of your data, and record this information according to defined standards, such as FGDC or the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names.
  • Time period during which data were collected - Please use the W3C/ISO 8601 date standard to record the temporal coverage of your dataset. Any other important information about your data.
  • File Information - File names, directory structure, and brief description of each file or file type, including where in the research process each data file lies (e.g. raw/unanalyzed data, processed/analyzed data, rendered/visualized data). Also indicate the number of data files, including the README file.
  • Definitions of acronyms, site abbreviations, or other project-specific designations used in the data file names or documentation files
  • Variable information - Description of the parameters/variables (column headings in the data files) and units of measure for each parameter/variable, including special codes, variable classes, GIS coverage attributes, etc. used in the data files themselves, including codes for missing data values
  • Uncertainty, precision, and accuracy of measurements
  • Environmental or experimental conditions (e.g., cloud cover, atmospheric influences, computational environment, etc.)
  • Method(s) –Describe the methods for collecting, creating, or compiling the submitted data, as well as the methods for processing data, if data other than raw data are being contributed
  • Standards or calibrations that were used
  • Software – List any software (including version number) used to produce, prepare, render, compress, analyze and/or needed to read the dataset, if applicable
  • Quality assurance and quality control that have been applied
  • Limitations to reuse - Known problems or caveats that would limit reuse of the data or other caveats (e.g., uncertainty, sampling problems, blanks, QC samples) that future users should know
  • Date dataset was last modified
  • Related materials - Relationships with any ancillary datasets outside of this dataset, if applicable
  • Data source - Resources, such as books, articles, serials, and/or data files, if any, that served as source of this data collection
  • Related Files - Files names of other documentation that are being submitted along with the data and that would be helpful to a secondary data user, such as pertinent field notes or other companion files, publications, etc.
  • Any other important information about your data