The National Digital Catalog

  • This catalog will identify data and samples available in the data archive, the repositories of particular geologic data and collections, and the means of accessing these materials.
  • Inventory and catalog data will be easily accessible in a digital format so users can quickly discover what data are available and where they are found.
  • There will be consistent standards for preservation, curation, and access to all geological and geophysical holdings.

Holdings of individual repositories represent the geoscience assets of the Nation. These repositories serve as a comprehensive source of geoscience data and materials to serve national needs today and in the future.
The NGGDP FY 2008 Program Priority is to create and populate the National Digital Catalog of archived materials.

Phase 1 – Collection Inventories

As the first step, the USGS is supporting proposals from State Geological Surveys and appropriate DOI agencies to assess current collections and data preservation needs. This information will provide a snapshot of the diversity of scientific collections held, supported, or used and will form the basis of the National Digital Catalog.

Phase 2 – Metadata Component of the National Digital Catalog

Collection inventories form the foundation of the catalog. Phase 2 comprises site-specific metadata records that describe, at the individual sample level, contents of collections. Focus on sample collection site-specific data will result in broad national coverage with content that will be useful to a wide variety of users.

Metadata Templates

These metadata templates are provided for use by state geological surveys in responding to the Program Announcement from the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP). The templates will help provide documentation about geological and geophysical data contained in collections held by the U.S. Geological Survey, state geological surveys, the Minerals Management Service, and the Bureau of Land Management so the information can be provided at several levels of detail in the National Digital Catalog. The purpose of the catalog is described in the NGGDPP Implementation Plan.

eXtensible Markup Language (XML)  format Template -[http://datapreservation.usgs.gov/docs/collectionMetadataExample.xml, 1KB]

Flat file (spreadsheet) Template - [http://datapreservation.usgs.gov/docs/collectionMetadataExample.csv, 1KB]

Metadata Profile for the National Digital Catalog, version 1.0 - [http://datapreservation.usgs.gov/docs/NGGDPPMetadataProfile.pdf, 150KB]