Abstract
The Dryad repository is for data supporting published research in the field of evolutionary biology and related disciplines. Dryad development team members seek a theoretical framework to aid communication about metadata issues and plans. This article explores lifecycle modeling as a theoretical framework for understanding metadata in the repository environment. A background discussion reviews the importance of theory, the status of a metadata theory, and lifecycle concepts. An analysis draws examples from the Dryad repository demonstrating automatic propagation, metadata inheritance, and value system adoption, and reports results from a faceted term mapping experiment that included 12 vocabularies and approximately 600 terms. The article also reports selected key findings from a recent survey on the data-sharing attitudes and behaviors of nearly 400 evolutionary biologists. The results confirm the applicability of lifecycle modeling to Dryad's metadata infrastructure. The article concludes that lifecycle modeling provides a theoretical framework that can enhance our understanding of metadata, aid communication about the topic of metadata in the repository environment, and potentially help sustain robust repository development.
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