Title: Simplified deployment of the Metacat data and metadata system
Authors: Michael Daigle, Matthew B. Jones, Benjamin Leinfelder, Shaun Walbridge, Jing Tao
Institution: National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California Santa Barbara

Most data management systems used in environmental field stations are custom systems that integrate many software components to serve the needs of that station. Although focused on the needs of these organizations, custom-developed systems require significant expertise in information technology and software development in order to be successful. Many smaller field stations, laboratories, and individual researchers lack the resources and technical expertise to develop their own custom system. We have extended the Metacat data and metadata catalog system to provide a more simplified system for installing and deploying a data management system with minimal technical expertise. The first phase of this project has focused on simplifying the configuration of the system to make it approachable by researchers. The second phase will focus on installing system prerequisites in order to make the overall system installation process quick and straightforward on multiple computing platforms. By creating this turnkey data management system, we hope to increase the number of laboratories and researchers that utilize a structured metadata and data management system and thereby have a significant impact on the accessibility of ecological and environmental data.