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MEDIN holds free training workshops periodically throughout the year to improve the uptake, knowledge and use of MEDIN Data Guidelines and the MEDIN Discovery Metadata Standard (and associated tools).
Call for speakers
We are looking for speaking for our upcoming series of marine data management webinars. Please submit your abstract here by 16th June 2025.
About Workshops
The virtual/online workshops titled: ‘Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset’ are hosted on OceanTeacher Global Academy and are run over five days with interactive discussion sessions and presentations in the mornings and independent study in the afternoons. Workshops are modular, allowing attendees to attend all, or specific parts of the training, depending on individual requirements. See the virtual workshop schedule below for further details.
This training course is suitable for anyone responsible for collecting or managing marine environmental data in the public sector, industry or for education or research. Familiarity with different marine data types, and how data is acquired and used, would be helpful but not essential. Prior knowledge or practical experience of data management is not required. For example:
- Existing and potential data managers who wish to gain an overview of data governance, policy and principles and/or want to learn more about using the MEDIN metadata standard data guidelines in their day-to-day work.
- Contractors who want to implement good data management practice and/or have been asked to supply MEDIN compliant metadata.
- Undergraduate/Graduate students or recent graduates interested in data management best practice and adding to their professional skill set.
The course has been awarded official recognition as contributing to the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology’s (IMarEST’s) members. Download the presentations from MEDIN workshops from the Resources drop-down below.
Photo: MEDINUpcoming workshops
| Date | Location | Register for workshop | Enrolment Key |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19th-23rd May 2025 | Online | https://classroom.oceanteacher.org/course/view.php?id=1148 | MEDIN052025 |
If the workshop you wish to attend has been fully booked, please contact Roseanna Wright, workshop co-ordinator. If any spaces become free, MEDIN will add you to the attendees list.
If your organisation has a requirement for a large number of your staff to become familiar with MEDIN Data Guidelines and/or the Discovery Metadata Standard, please get in touch as MEDIN may be able to run tailored workshops.
The course aims to give participants a broad understanding of data governance, management principles and system components and how data can be published information and re-used with a focus on the tools that the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) provide as examples of best practice.
The course features interactive training and discussion sessions, quizzes, and assignments to help users become familiar with:
- The resources and other benefits of MEDIN and practical instruction in the use of the MEDIN data guidelines, metadata standard and controlled vocabularies.
- Why data management is important and how it can and arguably should be part of an organisations business management framework alongside quality, occupational health and safety, and information security.
- The role of a data policy and management plan, and how data can be shared, published, and re-used.
- Data management principles, standards, and components, including data lifecycle and quality, the role of vocabularies (or data dictionaries) and the importance of creating, maintaining, and publishing metadata.
- How data management ‘best practice’ can improve organisational efficiency in data acquisition, analysis, curation and sharing. It covers data use with respect to corporate risk, re-use, audit, and traceability, whilst at the same time helping minimise costs.
| Day | Time | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | AM | Course content and objectives |
| Introduction to MEDIN as an exemplar data partnership and management framework | ||
| Data management overview, principles and organisation | ||
| Data in a Business Management Framework (Policy, Planning, Review) | ||
| Standards Overview | ||
| PM | Independent study - read chapters available on OceanTeacher, complete survey and quizzes etc. | |
| Day 2 | AM | Data management components frameworks and infrastructure |
| DAMA DM-BOK (aka 'Wheel') | ||
| The Data Life Cycle | ||
| Controlled Vocabularies | ||
| Coordinate Reference Systems | ||
| PM | Independent study - read chapers available on OceanTeacher, complete survey and quizzes etc. | |
| Controlled vocabularies assignment | ||
| Day 3 | AM | Controlled vocabularies assignment recap and Q&A |
| Metadata | ||
| Data Quality | ||
| MEDIN Data Guidelines | ||
| PM | Independent study - read chapters available on OceanTeacher, complete survey and quizzes etc. | |
| MEDIN data guideline practical | ||
| Day 4 | AM | Data guidelines practical recap and Q&A |
| MEDIN Discovery Metadata | ||
| PM | Independent study - read chapters available on OceanTeacher, complete survey and quizzes etc/ | |
| MEDIN Discovery Metadata practical | ||
| Day 5 | AM | MEDIN Discovery Metadata practical recap and Q&A |
| Data sharing and publishing | ||
| Course Summary | ||
End of course | ||
Highlights importance of data management and organisation, whilst being full of enjoyable practical exercises.
Practical very useful and clear instructions.
I had some specific questions which were answered very well and found it a very useful day.
Information was clear and well presented.
Very helpful.
Very good mix, with regular practicals to keep you engaged.
| You said: | We did: |
|---|---|
| An example of a completed guideline would help with the guideline practical. | Added a download link to a completed data guideline to the MEDIN guidelines webpage. |
| We would like an example of a good discovery metadata record within the online tool to help with the discovery metadata practical. | Added a ‘good’ example discovery metadata record to the online metadata editor. |
| Thorough walkthroughs of the guidelines/discovery metadata editor before setting the assignments would be helpful. | Added extra walk-throughs to the schedule prior to setting assignments, in addition to walk-through of answers to give attendees plenty of time to ask questions and make sure everything is clear and understood. |
| Presentations were often rushed. | Updated the schedule to allow more realistic time slots for the presentations as well as extra time between presentations for questions and comfort breaks. |
| I would like more links or references to external and downloadable material for further reading. Especially in relation to data management best practices i.e. FAIR principles. | Added a useful links/additional reading list. |
| There is a lack of natural networking opportunities and stilted discussion through online interface. | Added a dedicated networking session at the start of the online course to allow participants to get to know each other and feel more comfortable interacting through the online conferencing software. Also added drop-in/discussion sessions each afternoon to allow for more interaction and potential to work through assignments in small groups. |
MEDIN Workshop Presentations
| MEDIN welcome | Download |
| Introduction to MEDIN | Download |
| Controlled Vocabularies | Download |
| Introduction to MEDIN Metadata | Download |
| MEDIN Data Guidelines | Download |
| Wrap-Up | Download |
If you require any information about previous workshops that aren't available for download please contact MEDIN Enquiries. Check out the MEDIN YouTube channel for tutorials on controlled vocabularies, guidelines and more