UNCG Data Governance | Collection Guidelines

Collection Guidelines

Collection Development Guidelines

The collection development guidelines are a statement of the principles used by UNCG Enterprise Data Governance (EDG) in the acquisition, criteria, and maintenance of metadata of UNC Greensboro (UNCG) data assets. The guidelines are used in providing consistency among those responsible for developing the collection and in communicating EDG policies to administration, faculty, staff, and other interested persons.

Full Guidelines

    Consistent with EDG’s mission, EDG seeks to attain the following objectives regarding the development and management of the catalogs:

    • To develop a collection that drives and supports decision-making and key business processes across campus.
    • To maintain a comprehensive collection of metadata on the data assets across campus to increase access, provide business continuity, avoid duplication of work, and provide an opportunity for cross-departmental collaboration.
    • To maintain the lineage of data assets to track the transformation and flow to ensure data is accurate, complete, and trustworthy.

    To comply with all internal and external standards pertaining to compliance with federal and state regulations and mandates, and with UNCG’s accrediting bodies.

    The primary community served by the data catalogs outlined in the guidelines consists of currently active faculty and staff.

    Definitions of terms can be found in the following glossaries located in the current data catalog tool, Collibra Data Intelligence.

    The Data Governance Business Glossary is a prioritized list of business terms, acronyms and their meanings related to Data Governance.

    The University Global Report Catalog Glossary is a prioritized list of business terms, acronyms and their meanings related to the Report Catalog.

    The collection development guidelines are shaped by the long-term goals for data governance at UNCG. Current collection development efforts prioritize building out the collections across campus with an emphasis on metadata collection for those data assets with greater longevity, the widest reach and highest impact.

    Data catalogs support the work of Data Governance by helping an organization to manage assets and their data through collection, organization, enriched metadata, and discovery. A data catalog is a catalog of metadata that helps an organization quickly and efficiently access, describe, and assemble assets and data sets to improve trust in analytics based on those data sets.

    The EDG team manages the collection of metadata, data quality, and access to multiple catalogs in the data catalog tool for the many data assets available across UNCG. Metadata for the various data assets are collected by the EDG team directly from the departments and individuals who created them.

    Data assets include:

    • Dashboards and Reports
    • Data processes
    • Policies and Standards
    • Systems and Databases
    • Webforms

    For further information on the organization of asset types, please see the Enterprise Data Governance Collection Development Guidelines. The following link is accessible to UNCG affiliates. If you are not affiliated with UNCG, please email us to request a copy. PDF: Enterprise Data Governance Collection Development Guidelines

    The EDG team primarily acquires metadata on campus data assets directly from the departments and individuals who created them. Initial collection begins with meeting with a department to identify all the assets they develop and cataloging those that meet the criteria defined in the guidelines. All new assets will require the asset’s creator or requestor to submit a  Catalog and Report Certification Request through the 6Tech Online Service Portal.

    a. Dashboards and Reports

    A report is any document containing information that is organized in a narrative, graphic, or tabular form. The document can be prepared on an ad hoc (one-time), irregular, periodic, recurring, regular or as-required basis. Reports may refer to specific periods, events, occurrences, or subjects. They may be tailored for a specific role and display information targeted to a single point of view, business unit, or campus wide.

    A dashboard is a dynamic graphical user interface often providing at-a-glance views of key performance indicators, metrics, or data relevant to a particular objective or business process. In the scope of cataloging, “report” is used to refer to both.

    b. Data Process

    A data process is a single task or series of tasks, customized or out of the box, executed within a system and are either manual or automated/scheduled to run once or on a timed interval.

    c. Policies and Standards

    A policy is a formal, high-level statement with broad application across the university community that is designed to promote operational efficiencies, enhance the institutional mission, or reduce risk. A standard is a mandatory action or set of requirements that is designed to support compliance to a policy.

    The cataloging of university policies and standards will be prioritized to those that are applicable to data and data management and may include regulations external to the university such as FERPA and HIPAA. Relating policies and standards to information assets aids in confirming regulatory compliance.

    d. Systems and Databases

    A system refers to any of the computing applications in operation at the university that contain and within which users process institutional data. A database is a structured set of data elements contained within a System which can be accessed, analyzed, transformed, updated, and moved with efficiency.

    The cataloging of Systems and Databases will be prioritized by the volume of report assets generated from the data they contain. Systems and Databases are required for complete and accurate documentation of data lineage.

    e. Webform

    An online form that allows users to easily create and share forms and surveys and analyze responses in real-time.

    Not Collected

    Currently EDG does not collect metadata on the following types of assets:

    • Report sub-sections.
    • Report screenshots.
    • Webforms that are not connected to an individual’s UNCG credentials.
    • Ad hoc requests with transitory reference value only.

    A different set of criteria is applied to each type of data asset.

    a. Dashboards and Reports

    Reports, developed by an individual and/or department at UNCG, regardless of frequency, are cataloged if they meet one or more of the following:

    • The report supports business decision making and/or key business processes.
    • The report supports administrative decision making.
    • The report is used as a source for answering public information requests.
    • The report is used across multiple groups (i.e., has a large audience).
    • The report is not deprecated.

    In the case of ITS all reports will be cataloged, including any report in Data Central.

    b. Data Processes

    Data processes are cataloged if they meet one or more of the following:    

    • The data process is active or in production in a university system.

    c. Policies and Standards

    Policies and standards are cataloged if they meet one or more of the following:

    • They support decision making about and accountability for how data are collected, accessed, used, and managed across the institution.
    • They define principles and practices that ensure institutional data is of high quality and is appropriately protected.
    • They provide direction for compliance with federal and state regulations regarding data and data management.

    d. Systems and Databases

    Systems and databases are cataloged if they meet one or more of the following:

    • They contain data used in reports that meet the above-described criteria for cataloging.

    e. Webform

    Webforms are cataloged if they meet one or more of the following:

    • The webform is attached to an individual’s credentials and supports key business processes.
    • The webform is used across multiple groups.
    • The webform is not deprecated.

    EDG is committed to the careful and responsible management of the metadata entrusted to its care. As part of ongoing collection development activities, the EDG team will perform the following continuously:

    • Perform quality assurance on records to verify the accuracy and currency of metadata.
    • Collaborate with developers and owners of data assets across campus to ensure accuracy and currency of metadata.
    • Update and enhance metadata to ensure the accuracy of descriptive information and facilitate the search and retrieval of content.
    • Identify and select new data assets in accordance with the above-mentioned criteria.
    • Monitor campus news to learn of potential changes to data assets.
    • Perform planned reviews of metadata in timeframes decided upon by the EDG team and Data Governance bodies and in accordance with the type of data asset’s needs and lifecycle.

    Retention, archiving, and deaccessioning are the practices associated with records management in data organizations. Their purpose is to refine and improve the quality and usefulness of the records and to allow the catalogs to better serve UNCG.

    • Retention refers to the length of time a record should be kept in a certain location or form for administrative, legal, fiscal, historical, or other purposes (Society of American Archivists, 2023).
    • Archiving refers to all actions relating to the selection and care of records of enduring value (Society of American Archivists, 2023).
    • Deaccessioning refers to the process by which an organization permanently removes accessioned materials from its holdings (Society of American Archivists, 2023).

    For further information on retention, archiving, and deaccessioning, please see the Enterprise Data Governance Collection Development Guidelines. The following link is accessible to UNCG affiliates. If you are not affiliated with UNCG, please email us to request a copy. PDF: Enterprise Data Governance Collection Development Guidelines

    It is understood that as the information needs of the University change, so too the guidelines will change to meet such needs. The guidelines will be reviewed regularly to adapt to changes affecting EDG and the needs of the UNCG community.

    References

    Society of American Archivists. (2023). Archiving. SAA Dictionary: archiving. https://dictionary.archivists.org/entry/archiving.html 

    Society of American Archivists. (2023). Deaccession. SAA Dictionary: deaccession. https://dictionary.archivists.org/entry/deaccession.html 

    Society of American Archivists. (2023). Retention period. SAA Dictionary: retention period. https://dictionary.archivists.org/entry/retention-period.html