Incorporating Data Standards

Data standards are guidelines for describing and storing data. Using data standards is crucial to making your data consistent and interoperable. Standards can apply at the whole dataset level (e.g., Darwin Core standard for sharing information about biodiversity) or to individual parameters (e.g., the ISO 8601 date and time format: YYYY-MM-DD).

The USFWS data management policy requires biologists to use appropriate data standards whenever applicable. These can include:

• Standardized descriptors such as latitude/longitude, state/county codes, wind direction, and telephone number

• Classification systems such as vegetation classification and biological taxonomy

• Data layers such as Hydrologic Units, Wetlands, and Transportation layers

An approved list of data standards for use in USFWS is currently under review.