Subject: RE: Documentation

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1994 10:50:40 -0500 (EST)

Let me echo what Donald Strebel has said, and add a bit more.

I have been assisting in the development of standards by the Panel 2
of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS).  These
standards (the basic one is also ISO 12175 now) address the linking
of data and metadata/documentation/publication in a simple but
effective way.  They support packaging of data and metadata,
and provide for an infrastructure to maintain the metadata/documentation.
We do not try to make a clear distinction between what is intended only
for machine use and what is only for human use.  Some of the metadata/
documentation is useful for both beyond just presentation.
We are also working on data description languages with different levels
of semantic functionality.  Instances of these description languages
provide various metadata/documentation description objects
that are linked to the data (objects).

I was unaware of Donald Strebel's work, even though we are both at
GSFC.  I am sure we will compare notes!

Donald M. Sawyer
Code 633
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771