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Part I. OverviewCONCRETE GUIDANCE TO DATA PROVIDERS(Technical guidance for data managers)At the time of this writing (March 2004) the DMAC Subsystem is at an early stage of implementation,yet it is possible to recommend some concrete actions that may be taken by data and metadatamanagers and product producers that will streamline their future compatibility with IOOS. Integrationof data into IOOS implies that would-be users will quickly and efficiently be able to (i) discoverdata through a comprehensive search; (ii) browse and visualize data through standard Webbrowsers; and (iii) access data from many common computer applications. It is understood thatany recommendations made at this time are subject to change as the DMAC Subsystem evolves.There are two classes of solutions for sharing data that will ensure consistency with the emergingDMAC standards, protocols, and tools:1. Providers of certain types of data may delegate responsibility for managing these data to anotherentity. For example, a data provider may be able to enter into an arrangement with the NOAANational Data Buoy Center (NDBC 21 ) to perform quality-control and distribute mooring dataor with the U.S. GODAE Server 22 to distribute operational model outputs.2. Providers of all types of data can make choices to manage the data in a manner that is consistentwith the emerging DMAC standards, protocols, and tools. The following approaches to managingdata and metadata will help ensure compatibility with emerging DMAC:• Metadata management and data discoveryIt is recommended that all data providers:– Create metadata that are compliant with Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC 23 )standards for both current and legacy data holdings and inventories.– Submit metadata to the NASA Global Change Master Directory (GCMD 24 ) and/or theNOAA Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC 25 ) so that data sets may be easily foundthrough an open data discovery process.21contact MarineObs@noaa.gov for details.22contact the U.S. Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) Server at http://www.usgodae.fnmoc.navy.mil23Information on FGDC is available at http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/metadata.html. Contact either the NOAA Coastal Data DevelopmentCenter (http://www.ncddc.noaa.gov/Metadata) or the NOAA Coastal Services Center (http://www.csc.noaa.gov) for directassistance with creating FGDC metadata24see http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov25see http://www.ncddc.noaa.gov/Metadata48