Design principles for a unified statistical data/metadata system

This paper discusses a design proposal for a unified statistical data and metadata system at the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the principles guiding that design. Many statistical agencies have begun to disseminate their data via the Internet. All the major program areas within the Bureau of the Census have begun Internet data dissemination projects. If each data dissemination system is developed and implemented independently, then the statistical agency runs the risk that people seeking data will need to learn several different systems. Worse, it might be difficult to find and combine data from different sources because of incompatibilities among the systems. Through cooperation, the use of metadata standards and the use of common (Internet) tools, it should be possible to provide a common “look and feel” and seamless access to all agency data: a unified statistical data/metadata system. The paper describes the principles used to guide the design, necessary standards, software tools, and the architecture of the proposed system