We’re Going to Move the River Acheron: Standardizing Metadata at a National Laboratory

The Los Alamos National Laboratory’s National Security Research Center maintains a diverse collection of materials spanning from the 1940s to the present. While the world may have known quietude in the decade or so after the collapse of the Soviet Union, recent global events have created a need for scientific research in a timely manner to better achieve our goals. Yet, access to information is hampered by nonexistent or inconsistent metadata created and stored across several disparate repositories. Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Metadata Initiative is a working group of LANL metadata experts, assembled in 2023 to begin standardizing metadata across the enterprise. The Metadata Initiative is engaged in several projects that will promote consistency across varied institutional systems, such as the adoption of the Dublin Core metadata standard as well as in- house development of several tools, including a data dictionary, subject-specific controlled vocabularies, and the incorporation of an enterprise-wide Data Governance Council to enforce adherence and meet our Department of Energy mandated goals. Our approach as outlined here may be used as a guide for other institutions working to overcome similar challenges.