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Data Management
The central mission of the National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Program is to provide timely and usable scientific information about the status and trends of park resources to park managers. To meet this challenge, a method for data management that can effectively produce, maintain, and distribute the products of scientific investigation conducted in our parks is required.
Good data management provides the means by which a thorough understanding of the value of scientific information about our natural resources can become a part of the National Park Service heritage. Data management refers to the framework by which data are acquired, maintained, and subsequently made available. Data management is not an end unto itself, but a means of maximizing and insuring the quality and utility of our natural resource information. A robust data management system is particularly important for long-term programs where the life span of a data set will span the careers of several scientists. Sound data management is vital to the success of any long-term research program.
The goals of the Mid-Atlantic Network (MIDN) data management program are to make data and information:
- Available - Data are discoverable, accessible, and easily located.
- Usable - Data are stored in a stable, reliable, and interpretable data retrieval system.
- Shareable - Data products are complete, certified for quality assurance, screened for sensitive information, formatted for use, and documented for interpretation by others.
- Integrated - Data products are consistent with data exchange standards, interoperable with related natural resource data sets, and collected and stored in a way that optimizes the tradeoff between meeting local needs and achieving compatibility with other agencies and partners.
- Interpreted - Data have been reviewed, summarized, and transformed into useful information.
The Mid-Atlantic Network’s Data Management Plan supplements the National Data Management Plan and provides the MIDN Inventory and Monitoring Program and park staff with a conceptual framework for a method of data management that will ensure the production and dissemination of scientific information about the status and trends of park resources. This plan provides details for how data management activities will be conducted within the network and specifically describes how MIDN will:
- Support Inventory and Monitoring Program objectives
- Acquire and process data
- Assure data quality
- Document, analyze, summarize, and disseminate data and information
- Maintain nationally developed data management systems
- Maintain, store, and archive natural resources data and information