How To: Plan and Define Phase

A standard process can help you build quality data. This "how to" provides a set of steps for the "Plan and Define" phase:

1. Collect Needs and Requirements. Before you define your data, you need to know why you are collecting it and for what purposes. You also need to identify your user needs and what requirements the data faces.

2. Define the Dataset. Once you have your requirements, you can define the data tables and fields you need.

3. Define Policies and Processes. You will need to define a set of policies and processes to manage your data through its lifecycle.

Throughout the "how to", we provide guidance, tools, templates or checklists. Your project may need less or more than what is in this guidebook. Please adapt the process to meet your needs.

You can also use the companion worksheet to help you move through the steps.

And send us feedback at support.datasf.org!