Quick start guide

Get started with managing datasets based on your role in the workflow.

In this guide

Identify your role
Editors: Create and submit datasets
Reviewers: Validate datasets
Approvers: Approve datasets
Catalogue Managers: Publish and manage datasets

Identify your role

Your role determines what actions you can perform with datasets. Role names may vary in your organisation—check your permissions if you're unsure. Common roles and their responsibilities include:

Your role	What you do
Metadata Editor	Create datasets, add enhancements, submit for review
Metadata Reviewer	Validate submitted datasets, ensure accuracy and standards
Metadata Approver	Approve validated datasets, ensure governance compliance
Catalogue Manager	Publish datasets, manage public access, handle deprecation

Role names vary

These roles reflect a typical setup in Metadata Capture. Your organisation may use different names—contact your Inventory Coordinator or System Administrator if you need clarification.

Editors: Create and submit datasets

Your task: Document your organisation's data holdings and submit them for review.

Your workflow:

1. Create a dataset: Add a dataset or use the bulk upload feature to start documenting your data.

2. Enhance your dataset: (Optional) Add details to improve discoverability

   • Add distributions – describe how users can access the data
   • Add a data dictionary – document data structure and fields
   • Manage dataset relations – link to related datasets
   • Add qualified attributions – credit data sources

3. Submit for review: Submit your dataset to initiate the review process.

Save your progress

Select Save as Draft at any time to save your work, and come back to it from the Draft tab when you're ready.

Reviewers: Validate datasets

Your task: Ensure submitted datasets meet technical standards and accuracy requirements.

Your workflow:

1. Find submitted datasets: Find datasets awaiting validation in the Completed tab.
2. Validate the dataset: Ensure metadata is accurate and complete and validate the dataset.
3. Or revert for changes: If the dataset needs corrections, revert to draft and add comments about what needs fixing.

Add context

Always include comments when reverting datasets—this helps Editors understand what needs changing.

Approvers: Approve datasets

Your task: Confirm validated datasets meet governance policies and compliance standards before publication.

Your workflow:

1. Find validated datasets: Find datasets awaiting approval in the Validated tab.
2. Approve the dataset: Ensure the dataset meets your publication standards and approve the dataset.
3. Or revert for changes: If the dataset needs corrections, revert to draft and add comments about what needs fixing.

Final checkpoint

This is the final review before publication—ensure all governance, legal, and quality requirements are satisfied.

Catalogue Managers: Publish and manage datasets

Your task: Publish approved datasets and manage their lifecycle, including deprecation and access control.

Your workflow:

1. Find approved datasets: Find datasets ready for publication in the Approved tab.
2. Choose publication type:
   • Publish publicly – make datasets discoverable beyond your organisation
   • Mark as internal – restrict access to your organisation only
3. Or revert for changes: If the dataset needs corrections, revert to draft and add comments about what needs fixing.

Other data management tasks:

• Unpublish: Temporarily remove datasets from public access
• Revert to draft: Move datasets back to draft for further edits
• Deprecate: Mark datasets as outdated or superseded

Related guides

• New to datasets? Learn the dataset workflow to understand the complete lifecycle.
• Need more control? Review roles and permissions to understand what actions are available to you.