3.1.2: Discovery Metadata
Associate Discovery Metadata With Data Assets Other Information:
To facilitate discovery of data assets, users and applications will provide discovery metadata, in accordance with the DoD
Discovery Metadata Standard (DDMS), for all data posted to shared spaces. The DDMS will provide a common set of structured
attributes that support discovery of data assets using search tools. COIs and asset producers determine the desired level
of discovery for a data asset, e.g., discovery of a database or a record within a database, discovery of a document or a paragraph
within a document. The initial focus of the DDMS is to aid in the discovery of data assets as a whole; hence, the discovery
metadata in the DDMS will not always be required for individual records or elements. For exa mple, the discovery metadata
will always indicate the existence of a database containing certain kinds of information but may or may not identify the contents
of specific database elements. The DDMS does not preclude the use of other metadata processes or standards. For example, record-
level database tagging and in-line document tagging are common practice today to support various Department objectives. These
tagging initiatives will only have to enhance their existing processes to include the DDMS for Enterprise discovery. The DDMS
will be adopted and implemented across the DoD components for new and existing data assets. Figure 7 illustrates the logical
layers and elements of the DDMS. This standard will be registered in the DoD Metadata Registry. Enterprise visibility of a
data asset is promoted when its discovery metadata complies with the DDMS. The core layer of the DDMS represents those attributes
of a data asset that can be commonly described across the Department, regardless of the type of data asset or community to
which it is applied. It is important to note that not all elements in the core layer are mandatory. The set of mandatory elements
will be small yet robust enough to generate high value-added metadata to support Enterprise discovery. The extensible layer
provides a mechanism for COIs to extend the core layer of the DDMS to support mission-specific metadata requirements.
Indicator(s):
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