History and early versions

This repository was initiated in late 2019, after the EML 2.2 release (Jones et al. 2019). Prior to this there were several efforts to create guidance documents for creating research metadata in EML, starting with the “Best Practices for Dataset Metadata in Ecological Metadata Language” guide. Since that time, additional guides for a more diverse set of research metadata use cases have been added. Some versions of these guides are published in accessible form, and some are not. Below we have collected historical information and, where possible, accessible copies of early versions these guides.

EML Best Practices

  • The first “BPs” (and the origins of this collection) were focused on the use of the EML metadata schema, and created by the LTER data managers.
  • Over time, that document was expanded to include specifics about data types and practices of the LTER related to the then-nascent PASTA system.
  • In 2017, the newly established EDI repository (established in 2016) revised the EML BP to include general material about use of the EML specification.
  • This repository was created in 2019 to house EML Best Practices, Version 3, and other data package recommendations as markdown files accessible on the web. Some minor modifications were made to the Version 3, document after this was initiated. See the repository history for details.
  • In 2023 and 2024, the EML Best Practices working group re-convened to produce EML Best Practices, Version 4, which will be published soon. Older versions will also receive DOIs.

References

Jones, Matthew, Margaret O’Brien, Bryce Mecum, Carl Boettiger, Mark Schildhauer, Mitchell Maier, Timothy Whiteaker, Stevan Earl, and Steven Chong. 2019. “Ecological Metadata Language Version 2.2.0.” KNB Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.5063/F11834T2.