NPWS Data Resource Catalogue

NPWS Data Resource Catalogue

The following information is relevant to individuals or organisations undertaking a research project on behalf of NPWS.

NPWS Research Branch staff manage a wide range of research projects which collect, collate and analyse data from multiple sources. These projects range in scale from country-wide surveys, which gather a variety of survey data leading to one or more publications, down to projects that are represented by single report documents that analyse existing data or even projects represented by as yet unanalysed datasets.

The resources produced by these projects include published and unpublished reports, spatial datasets, Excel files and databases (to name but a few). Compiling a catalogue which describes these resources, alongside standardising the data structures and formats will allow NPWS to better store and manage the data, making its dissemination and reuse more efficient.

The Resource Catalogue will allow the development and maintenance of a comprehensive list of data resources held by NPWS.

Two immediate goals of the Catalogue are:

  1. to build a definitive list of projects and resources held by NPWS along with details of the associated content
  2. to generate the metadata elements for NPWS spatial dataset information required for compliance with the EU INSPIRE directive on spatial datasets and spatial dataset series. Metadata requirements for ISO 19115, Dublin Core and Darwin Core are also considered.

The downloadable zip archive (1.1 Mb), NPWS Data resource catalogue‌, contains an empty Acrobat PDF form along with a guidance document called NPWS Data Resource Catalogue form entry guidelines.

[Document filename: NPWS_Resource_catalogue_form_entry_guidelines_external_v0_7.pdf]. Please refer to this document before attempting to fill in the Resource Catalogue form.

Note that the Project Delivery Pack includes two sample forms that contain sample data for reference purposes. Download the pack from the Data Standards web page.