NGDRS Tutorial #1

Understanding the Metadata Catalog Architecture

NGDRS is a system of regional data repositories, developed in conjunction with existing state agencies and private organizations. Each repository contains unique geosciences related information, primarily - but not exclusively - related to its locale. The data is in a variety of forms, ranging from digital well logs and seismic reflection data at some centers to paper and film records or rock core and cuttings samples at other repositories.

The repository system consists of an integrated network rather than a single, centralized facility and is built upon existing data centers, both public and private, located throughout the United States. Metadata for electronic databases (Metadata Catalog), however, is stored at a central facility in Houston at the offices of The Information Store, Inc.

Users enter the system using standard Internet facilities. A web browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer, is the entry point of the system. The user will proceed by selecting a prescribed web site that houses the GeoTrek system and the data sets already installed. The system provides the user with self-registration capabilities (account, password). Registered users can proceed directly into GeoTrek or browse through the site for supporting documentation. The selection of GeoTrek causes the system to download, into the user computing platform, the required software (a Java applet). Once the GeoTrek systems is loaded, users can load, simultaneously, one or more of the installed data sets. Once the data is loaded, users can then select, organize, filter, and export data. Users can also request data from commercial data providers. The request are completed with the transmission of electronic mail messages to the vendors requesting the data selected. Pricing, shipping and other order details are completed by the owner of the data and are transactions that take place outside of the NGDRS.

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