Metka – the metadata database for FSD

For many years FSD has used plain DDI XML files for marking up and storing both study level and variable level metadata. This has worked well even if the process is error-prone and laborious, sometimes requiring manually editing files that are over 140,000 lines of XML. In addition to DDI files, we have also used a relational database for administrative metadata and file management. Some of the metadata has been stored both in the files and in the database, resulting in the duplication of information and associated problems. This poster will present FSD moving to a better managed solution, a metadata database called Metka. With Metka, all metadata is gathered to one single authoritative database. The system is based on modern web technologies. Data objects are stored in a relational database with a data model that conforms to DDI. Metka simplifies metadata entry and improves quality as structured fields are used extensively, for example, for controlled vocabularies. All committed changes are automatically versioned and can be audited. Metadata can also be exported to DDI. Extensive search functionality will help customer services when dealing with information requests.