<div dir="ltr"><div>Dear DDI Community,<br><br>Please join us in endorsing these shared principles of metadata reuse across the lifecycle -- see below.<br><br></div>Mary<br><div><div><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Corti, Louise</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:corti@essex.ac.uk">corti@essex.ac.uk</a>></span><br>Date: Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 6:27 AM<br>Subject: IASST-L Help make survey data re-usable - endorse our universal questionnaire metadata standards here<br>To: "<a href="mailto:iasst-l@lists.columbia.edu">iasst-l@lists.columbia.edu</a>" <<a href="mailto:iasst-l@lists.columbia.edu">iasst-l@lists.columbia.edu</a>><br><br><br>Dear IASSISTers,<br>
<br>
Please forward this on to your survey owner and producer colleagues!<br>
<br>
Making survey metadata reusable across the lifecycle – please endorse the shared principles<br>
<br>
We are asking our colleagues and organisations who produce and utilise survey data to endorse some new principles which will make it easier to re-use survey metadata across the data lifecycle.<br>
<br>
Currently there are obstacles to creating re-usable documentation for data. In particular, the metadata journey from owner to producer back to owner and to archive still uses relatively old-fashioned processes, which rely on manual intervention and some replication of activities.<br>
<br>
We need to reduce the inefficiency of the current processes of questionnaire specification, capture of its implementation using Computer Assisted Interviewing (CAI) software, and delivery of data to owners and archives. These processes can be assisted by using interoperable standards, particularly for questionnaire metadata.<br>
<br>
At the UK Data Service and the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, (Institute of Education) we agree that the best approach is to use a recognised international metadata standard, such as the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI). This is already used by most international survey data archives. At the Survey Metadata: Barriers and Opportunities meeting held on in June 2014, survey owners, producers, CAI suppliers, and archives from the UK discussed, and agreed to support, a set of principles and a minimal subset of the DDI metadata standard for questionnaire description.<br>
<br>
The emphasis is very much on a pragmatic solution, so we’re asking those organisations working in this area to read and endorse the final set of principles hosted on the DDI community site and, optionally, view the questionnaire metadata profile. Further details can be found here, as well as the link to endorse the recommended standard.<br>
<br>
Survey Metadata Reusability and Exchange: A Call to Action for Questionnaire Documentation: <br><br><a href="http://www.ddialliance.org/survey-metadata-reusability-and-exchange">http://www.ddialliance.org/</a><a href="http://www.ddialliance.org/survey-metadata-reusability-and-exchange">survey-metadata-reusability-</a><a href="http://www.ddialliance.org/survey-metadata-reusability-and-exchange">and-exchange</a><br>
<br>
Many thanks!<br>
Louise<br>
___________________________________<br>
Louise Corti<br>
Functional Director, Collections Development and Producer Relations<br>
___________________________________<br>
T <a href="tel:%2B44%280%29%201206%20872145" value="+441206872145">+44(0) 1206 872145</a><br>
E <a href="mailto:corti@essex.ac.uk">corti@essex.ac.uk</a><br>
W <a href="http://ukdataservice.ac.uk">ukdataservice.ac.uk</a><br>
___________________________________<br>
UK Data Service<br>
UK Data Archive<br>
University of Essex<br>
___________________________________<br>
Legal Disclaimer: Any views expressed by the sender of this message are not necessarily those of the UK Data Service or the UK Data Archive.<br>
This email and any files with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual(s) or entity to whom they are addressed.<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">Mary Vardigan<br>Assistant Director, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)<br>P.O. Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106<br>Phone: 734-615-7908<br>Fax: 734-647-8200<br></div>
</div></div></div>