Data warehousing, metadata, and the World Wide Web

The connection between data warehousing and the metadata. used to catalog and locate warehouse data is obvious, but what is the connection between data warehousing, metadata, and the World Wide Web (WWW)? Specifically, the WWW can be used to allow users to search metadata (data about the data) and retrieve data from a warehouse database. In addition, the Internet/Intranet can be used to manage the metadata in archive databases and to streamline the database administration functions of a large archive center. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory`s (ORNL`s) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) is a data archive and distribution center for the National Air and Space Administration`s (NASA`s) Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS); the ORNL DAAC provides access to tabular and imagery datasets used in ecological and environmental research. To support this effort, we have taken advantage of the rather unique and user-friendly features of the WWW to (1) allow users to search for and download the data we archive and (2) provide DAAC developers with effective metadata and data management tools. In particular, the ORNL DAAC has developed the Biogeochemical Information Ordering Management Environment (BIOME), a WWW search-and-order system, as well as a WWW-based database administrator`s (DBA`s) tool suite designed to assist the site`s DBA in the management of archive metadata and databases and several other DBA functions that are essential to site management. This paper is a case study of how the ORNL DAAC uses the WWW to both manage data and allow access to its data warehouse.