Best Practices for Authoritative Data Providers
Maximize the deliciousness of your shared geospatial content
If data in a geospatial collaborative are like ingredients in a restaurant, then your authoritative content is the crème de la crème.
Sharing authoritative content comes with certain responsibilities. Although data governance is necessary for collaborative GIS, it needn't be burdensome. This Guide provides a simple set of Best Practices to help partners maximize the effectiveness of shared authoritative data (making it extra delicious!). Think of it as your recipe for success.
For quick reference, download the checklist version of these Best Practices for Authoritative Data Providers. (Word document)
1. Maintain reliable, persistent data layers and web services
Shared data layers need to be reliable. People and organizations rely on the authoritative data you share in their own maps and apps.
If you change the ItemID of a shared web data layer, the maps and apps that rely on your data layer no longer have access, possibly rendering them useless.
GOOD PRACTICE: Maintain persistent data layers with unchanged ItemIDs / service URLs.
An Item ID is a unique identifier representing a single content item stored, managed, and accessed in the ArcGIS portal, such as a hosted data layer or map. ArcGIS applications and APIs use the ItemID or web service URL to access the item from the ArcGIS portal.
2. Publish individual layers
While web services can contain multiple sublayers, publishing individual web layers typically provides greater control when sharing an item and its metadata.
Sharing individual web layers will also be faster than having multiple sublayers in one service.
GOOD PRACTICE: Publish individual web layers (these may or may not have related tables).
NOTE: Web layers can be composed of an individual data layer, multiple sublayers, or a web map containing multiple layers. Carefully consider when publishing topically related sublayers together makes sense. Web maps often include multiple layers in addition to a base map. An individual feature layer may or may not have related tables.
Content shared to an ArcGIS Hub site first must be hosted or registered in ArcGIS Online. ArcGIS Online maximizes data distribution and enables sharing through ArcGIS Hub. Think of ArcGIS Online as a conduit to your Hub site.
ArcGIS Online
To ensure performance and scalability and maximize discoverability, publish hosted web services directly to ArcGIS Online. Starting in ArcGIS Pro, right-click a layer in the Details pane and choose 'Share as web layer' to publish individual layers to ArcGIS Online. Metadata flows through with the layer during publishing.
ArcGIS Enterprise
Many organizations publish web services directly to their ArcGIS Enterprise portal and then reference them in ArcGIS Online. Starting in ArcGIS Pro, right-click a layer in the Details pane and choose 'Share as web layer' to publish individual layers to ArcGIS Enterprise. Metadata flows through with the layer during publishing. Then, register or replicate the item in your ArcGIS Online organization.
3. Item title uses a naming convention
When you share content in ArcGIS Online and Hub, your data live among hundreds of thousands of others in a global data ecosystem.
A simple naming convention for your Item titles distinguishes your content from others and helps users quickly find and discover what they need.
GOOD PRACTICE: Titles should be succinct yet descriptive. Follow the pattern: "LayerTopic of Jurisdiction" and include time period when relevant.
Include the layer topic and geography and, where relevant, temporal info. Layers without dates are assumed to be current. Dates represent the time period of the data or archive date. For example:
- Fire stations of Sweden
- Fire stations of Sweden 2018
It is common to express the date as Year (YYYY), Year-Month (YYYY-MM), or Year-Month-Day (YYYY-MM-DD). (reference ISO 8601 date/time format)
TIP: You can change Item names without affecting the dependent child services, layer views, or the Item ID.
4. Complete Item information
ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online Item pages present essential Item information.
These essential metadata elements are also available in the Metadata Editor. They represent the core information needed to make your data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable).
GOOD PRACTICE: Complete essential metadata elements in the Item information and/or Metadata Editor.
Explore tips on how to complete different item info components below.
5. Item settings
There are a few Item settings not to be missed. First, open the ArcGIS Online Item and choose the Settings tab. Then, review and apply the following settings as appropriate.
NOTE: Some Item settings have complementary ArcGIS Online portal settings that must be set by the Administrator .
GOOD PRACTICE: Configure Item Settings appropriately.
6. Items have metadata
Metadata are the Nutrition Facts for your GIS data.
TIP: If you've applied the preceding good practices for Layer information and Item Settings, most of the required metadata elements should already be completed!
On the Item details page, click the Metadata button to review and complete the required Metadata elements. Click Save.
GOOD PRACTICE: Complete all minimum metadata elements required by your organization, plus recommended/optional at your discretion.
Learn more about metadata in our primer:
NOTE: The administrator sets the Metadata Style for your organization.
7. Provide access through sharing
With the other good practices complete, you are ready to share your content based on your organization's policies. As appropriate, Public access can be enabled for everyone, while secure content can be restricted to authorized users.
GOOD PRACTICE: Enable appropriate access and share your content.
Enable Everyone (public) to access shared content
Return to the Item Overview page. Click the Share button and choose share with Everyone (public). Make sure editing is not enabled (see the previous section).
Share with 'Partner Shared Content' Hub Groups
Next in the Share dialog, click Edit group sharing and choose the appropriate group(s) for sharing. For example, if you share content to an ArcGIS Hub site, share your content with the Hub's Shared Content Groups.
8. Archive content periodically
Make a copy to archive content periodically while maintaining ItemIDs / service URLs (see Good Practice #1). The frequency of archiving will vary based on the nature of the dataset and your organization's data governance. Append date to title as appropriate.
GOOD PRACTICE: Make a copy to archive content periodically, appending the date to the title as appropriate.
Layers without dates are assumed to be current. Dates represent the time period of the data or archive date. It is common to express the date as Year (YYYY), Year-Month (YYYY-MM), or Year-Month-Day (YYYY-MM-DD). (reference: ISO 8601 date/time format)
Ready for retirement? The following article provides helpful advice to help transition users from old to new web services:
9. Go further with maps & apps!
You've prepared your authoritative data following the good practices herein to serve the needs of data consumers, such as GIS analysts, researchers, and developers.
Now you want to go further. Some of your customers are hungry for knowledge and understanding but don't know how to work with GIS.
They include the public, policymakers, decision-makers, researchers, and students. So when ready, dish out a complete meal by serving data as maps and apps to provide an appropriate experience for these visitors.
GOOD PRACTICE: Share versions of authoritative data layers as maps and apps appropriate to different audiences.
TIP: ArcGIS Instant Apps are quick and easy no-code apps for this purpose. First, create uncomplicated maps with your data. Then, build apps to view, share, and embed on web pages.
Next steps
This guide shared good practices that Authoritative Data Providers can follow to maximize the effectiveness of shared content.
The following guide in this collection describes ArcGIS patterns of sharing and collaboration and shares good practices, such as group naming conventions and how to manage groups in Hub.