This flowchart is a schematic representation of the information-gathering steps and decisions made in the process of developing a Harvestable Metadata Services implementation plan. The diagram includes steps that repository managers can walk through when creating a service. This flowchart is a set of decision points for the managers and is presented as a deliverable in PDF, jpeg and XML formats that can be edited to suit other use cases. This chart is intended to support a planning exercise, with the response to each node in the chart leading the user through different processes The International Technology Office (ITO) created a template for an implementation plan document that can be used by data managers who want to create a harvestable metadata service. This document poses a questionnaire by incorporating relevant content found in other implementation plans and roadmaps for data service implementations reviewed for this project. In particular, we borrowed from the CESSDA-Saw (Europe) guidance package, and the JISC (UK) project management guide and project plan template. The user of the ITO template will find editable fields with instructions on how to complete each section. Once the user has entered content into those fields, the instructions will disappear. Users are encouraged to edit any part of the template document to fit the circumstances of their own implementation project. Users are also encouraged to consult related resources from ITO, like the slide decks from the WG meetings that included guest speakers addressing different issues in harvestable metadata services, the Searchable Index of Metadata Aggregators and its companion guide, and the forthcoming HMetS-WG use-cases report.

World Data System - International Technology Office Funded under the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (formerly the Canadian New Digital Research Infrastructure Organization - NDRIO) collaborative agreement number 51387-50326