Metadata for Better Data

In 2016, the FAIR Data Principles were published, crystallising community expectations around the availability of research data. It is striking that the principles place so much emphasis on the metadata accompanying the data. As a research data librarian with responsibility for an institutional data archive, it is my responsibility to ensure that the items we ingest are accompanied by metadata of sufficient quality and quantity, and that this metadata is made available in line with FAIR Data Principles. Not only does this ensure the datasets meet community expectations, but it also helps us solve practical challenges for our service delivery.