1. Introduction

This Quick Reference Guide for Data Archivists provides data archivists with guidelines to document a micro-dataset in compliance with the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) and the Dublin Core (DCMI) metadata standards [1] , using the World Bank Metadata Editor.

The World Bank Metadata Editor is an application designed to help document data collection operations undertaken for different kinds of research projects. The application is developed as an open-source tool by the World Bank. A number of Metadata standards recognized as global models for defining and describing different types of data have been integrated into the Metadata Editor, these are: The Data Documentation Initiative (DDI Codebook), The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) and the ISO 19139 for geospatial data.

The Metadata Editor is modelled on the Nesstar Publisher. As such it should provide a familiar environment for the Nesstar users. As an added benefit, the Metadata Editor is flexible and can support the documentation of multiple-data types. Out of the box it supports the documentation of survey data, time series data, geospatial data, statistical tables, images, analytical scripts and standalone publications or documents.

This Guide summarizes the process in 10 chronological steps:

  1. Gathering and preparing the data set
  2. Gathering and preparing the documentation
  3. Importing data and establishing relationships
  4. Importing external resources
  5. Adding metadata
  6. Creating variable groups (optional)
  7. Running diagnostics
  8. Generating the standard survey documentation using the PDF generator
  9. Quality assessment
  10. Producing the output for publication

Also provided (in appendix) is the IHSN DDI Reviewers’ Feedback Form which provides a standard tool for the assessment of survey metadata by an external reviewer.

This Guide is not a Metadata Editor reference or training manual. It is assumed that users are already familiar with the Editor. A Metadata Editor User’s Guide is available at https://metadata-editor.readthedocs.io/en/latest/.

[1]DDI (Data Documentation Initiative) and DCMI (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative) are international XML metadata specifications. For more information on these standards and on the IHSN Toolkit, please visit www.surveynetwork.org.