Documentation provides information and context to aid in comprehending your data. It is not only useful (and likely necessary) for anyone else attempting to reuse your dataset, but also for you in the future. When in the midst of a project, it is easier to remember details that may be forgotten as time passes. By including adequate descriptive documentation, you aid in the long-term understandability of your dataset.
One common form of documentation is a README file. This is simply a text file that is included with your dataset (generally in the top level folder) and is intended to be read first. The Cornell Research Data Management Service Group provides an excellent guide to creating README files and a template, and the University of Minnesota Libraries have created a README file template that can be downloaded and modified to fit your needs.
Metadata are "data about data". It is the information about the context, content, quality, provenance, and/or accessibility of data. When you submit data to SANDY, you will be asked to provide some basic metadata describing the dataset that you are depositing. This will help others discover your dataset and help them understand what your dataset is all about.
For more information on metadata, see the Data Management Guide.
Please refer to the attached metadata worksheet to review and understand the information we request for a data deposit in SANDY.