Data Synthesis

Definition:  Bringing together two or more datasets to make them appear as one larger dataset.

Explanation:  If you take similar datasets and combine them, either by physically bringing them together or virtually making them available together, you have just synthesised the datasets into one large dataset.

Example:  The Long Term Ecological Research Network Information Management Committee combines the metadata for all 26 sites into a single source.  Temperature, for instance, is a variable tracked by all 26 sites.  A person can search the metadata collection as if it was a giant database of temperature for all 26 sites.

Why it is important:  Data synthesis allows many small data collections to be part of a larger, more useful collection.

Contributed by BES Information Manager Jonathan Walsh