Purpose

 

The purpose of this memorandum is to allow the use of electronic format for collection and archival of original water-quality-data records.

 

This policy supersedes USGS National Field Manual (NFM) Chapter A2, version 3.1, which required a bound-paper logbook to record all field notes for water quality (Wilde and others, 2014) and NFM Chapter A1, version 2.0, which required paper field folders for each water- quality monitoring station (Wilde, 2005).

 

Appendices 1 and 2 attached to this memorandum provide background on current USGS and Water Mission Area guidance and policies for archival and disposition of water-quality-data records and are included for informational purposes.

 

Guidance

 

Effective immediately, the Office of Water Quality (OWQ) recommends that all water-quality records be collected electronically wherever feasible, thus allowing the use of electronic entry of field and laboratory data, and electronic files as original water-quality-data records. Water- quality-data records include environmental data and metadata, station information, methods, modeling outputs, quality assurance, and instrument logbooks.

 

Policy and guidance on the use of electronic records is continuing to evolve. The use of paper records is currently permissible, but as new tools for electronic-records processing are developed, policy will be updated. Electronic formats are currently the most efficient, accurate, and preferred method of record keeping for water-quality-data records.

 

Questions can be directed to Cherie Miller (cvmniller@usgs.gov) in the OWQ.

 

 

 

 

Donna N. Myers

Chief, Office of Water Quality Distribution: All WMA Employees References:

Wilde, F.D., 2005, Preparations for water sampling (ver. 2.0): U.S. Geological Survey

Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, book 9, chap. A1, January 2005, accessed July 4, 2016 at http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/twri9A1/ [link or image removed]

 

Wilde, F.D., Sandstrom, M.W., and Skrobialowski, S.C., 2014, Selection of equipment for water sampling (ver. 3.1): U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, book 9, chap. A2, April 2014, accessed July 4, 2016, at http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/twri9A2/ [link or image removed]

 

Attachment 1

 

Specific Guidelines for use of Electronic Water Quality Field Notebooks and Logbooks

 

USGS requires that field notes and logs for equipment calibration and maintenance are maintained during collection of water-quality data and archived as permanent record. Field notebooks and logs for equipment calibration and maintenance may be in paper or electronic format, with the original format defined as the permanent record (USGS Manual, 1400-30j [link or image removed]). Ideally, electronic notes collected in the field should be in a format that is easily readable for entry into a database; the Water Mission Area Technical Offices are continuing to develop tools and file structures to facilitate this process.

 

Information that should be recorded in equipment logs is covered in USGS National Field Manual (NFM) Chapter A2. If electronic format is used for notebooks and equipment logs, the records must meet the following criteria:

 

1. All entries, changes, and modifications must be tracked or noted in the notebook or log with the date of the update, identity of the personnel, and
2. If components of electronic equipment are interchangeable, such as sensors on multi- parameter datasondes, the records-management procedures should include a way for each component to be tracked to facilitate access to the information at a later date. Equipment calibration and maintenance entries must be archived such that they link to the project, station, and the piece of
3. Equipment logs must be portable and/or accessible to all locations (field and laboratory) where the equipment is used, and to USGS staff who may need to access the information during the course of future
4. The Center and/or Project Data-Management Plan must include the creation and disposition of electronic and/or paper
5. All electronic records must be backed up and stored according to a data-management plan and rules for Federal Records Management (USGS Manual Section 432-1-S2 [link or image removed]). There are currently tools such as SIMS and NWIS to facilitate this

 

Specific Guidelines for Station and Project Files for USGS monitoring stations

 

Station and Project Files are the comprehensive supporting information for USGS monitoring stations including: station location and description with maps and photographs; historical background on the site; NWIS site and data entries, guidance for monitoring and sampling at the site; and safety information with a site hazard analysis and traffic plan. Station and project files are organized according to data-management plans and must be available to USGS field personnel to locate sites and safely collect and process water samples. Collectively, the station and project files for a field trip to a USGS monitoring station are called a Station Folder.¹ [link or image removed]

 

  1 Current version 2.0 of Chapter A1 of the National Field Manual provides information for what should be included in Station Folders. Version 3.0 of Chapter A1will be released in early FY2017 with more information and guidance on station and project files, and will include revisions to support the new policies in this memo.

 

Previous policies that required paper Field Folders for each station are superseded by this new policy to allow electronic or paper formats for station and project files.

 

Electronic station and project files must meet the following criteria:

 

1. Projects must assemble station folders with the necessary information to accurately and safely collect water-quality samples and data, as described in NFM, Chapter
2. Station and project file information must be portable or accessible to all field sites and to other USGS staff who may need to access the information during the course of current and future investigations. There are currently tools such in SIMS and NWIS to facilitate this
3. The Center and/or project Data-Management Plan must include the creation, maintenance, and disposition of station and project
4. All electronic records must be backed up and stored according to a data-management plan and rules for Federal Records Management (USGS Manual Section 432-1-S2 [link or image removed]). There are currently tools such as SIMS and NWIS to facilitate this

 

Attachment 2

 

Policies and precedents that affect the disposition of USGS water-quality-data records

 

Historically, records for water-quality data have been collected in both paper and electronic formats, and all water-quality records, regardless of format, were required to be archived on specified schedules. A critical aspect of archival was, and continues to be, the maintenance of all records that are deemed “original”, so that these data and supporting documentation are available for future access. USGS has increasingly used devices that generate electronic formats such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) with Continuous Hydrologic Instrumentation Monitoring Program (CHIMP), personal computers with Personal Computer Field Form (PCFF) program, and data loggers that collect and record water-quality data. Thus, there is a need to update USGS policies for management of water-quality-data records that includes options for electronic formats.

 

USGS policy requires water-quality-data records be stored securely and documented under a Data-Management Plan to describe the methods and techniques used to collect, process, and analyze data (USGS Manual Section 502.2 [link or image removed]). USGS Manual IM OSQI 2015-04 [link or image removed] provides further preservation requirements for all USGS digital scientific data and metadata, including storage requirements, data viability and integrity procedures, security, and file formats for original records. Disposition of all Federal Records follows strict Federal laws to safeguard information for the public.

 

Definitions

• Original Federal Records – “Original data from automated data-collection sites, laboratories, outside sources, and non-automated field observations, are those data unmodified as collected or received, once in conventional units (engineering units generally with a decimal). Original data shall be preserved in this form no matter how modified later” (Hubbard, [link or image removed] 1992).
• Temporary or Transitory Federal Records – “A record of ephemeral value that can be destroyed immediately or after a specified time period” (USGS Manual 432-1-S2 [link or image removed]). There may be special cases where paper records are required, for example, when external cooperators require paper records for regulatory purposes (CERCLA, RCRA, etc.). Paper records can be created from the electronic records, but they are secondary and follow different disposition cycles for temporary
• Electronic Records – Data and/or metadata that were collected in electronic

 

Water-quality-data records include environmental data, metadata, methods, modeling outputs, quality assurance, and instrument logbooks. Regardless of whether the original records are paper or electronic, they must be archived and meet disposition requirements in their original format.

Guidance is outlined in detail in USGS Manual Section 432-1-S2, [link or image removed] with specific disposition schedules for all types of water records, including electronic files.

 

Water-quality-data records must be stored on secured servers with backups and with a documented and approved filing system. USGS Instructional Memorandum IM OSQI 2015-01 [link or image removed] - establishes current requirements for data-management plans: "The overall project work plan of

 

every research project must include planning for data management (SM 502.2 [link or image removed]). A data- management plan describes standards and intended actions for acquiring, processing, analyzing, preserving, publishing/sharing, describing, managing quality, backing up, and securing the data holdings (http://www.usgs.gov/datamanagement/plan.php [link or image removed]).

 

This guidance supports The President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy Memorandum [link or image removed] dated February 22, 2013 that requires that all Federally funded science, data, and metadata be made available to and useful for the public, industry, and the scientific community. Specifically the President’s memo requires Open Access for all digital data and metadata and directs each Federal agency that conducts research and development to store data in digital format with a solid archival system that not only facilitates access but preserves the information to “…maximize access by the general public and without charge, to digitally formatted scientific data created with Federal funds…” In keeping with the President’s 2013 memo, we are required to be efficient and to use electronic formats where practicable.

 

This memorandum is consistent with USGS Office of Surface Water Technical Memorandum No. 2005.08 [link or image removed] – “Policy and guidance for archiving electronic discharge measurement data,” which defines electronic files as permanent records if they are original data, provides guidelines for managing and archiving all permanent records including electronic files, and requires each Center to have a Data-Management Plan with policies and procedures for records archival. Other resources for Water Mission Area policies for storing original electronic water-quality records include Hubbard [link or image removed](1992) and Water Resources Division Policy Memorandum No. 99.33 [link or image removed].

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Hubbard, E.F., 1992, Policy recommendations for management and retention of hydrologic data of the U.S. Geological Survey: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 92-56, 32 p., accessed on July 4, 2016 at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1992/ofr92-56/ [link or image removed]

 

Office of Surface Water Technical Memorandum 2005.08 “Policy and guidance for archiving electronic discharge measurement data,” dated September 26, 2005 and accessed July 4, 2016 at http://water.usgs.gov/admin/memo/SW/sw05.08.html [link or image removed]

 

President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy Memorandum dated July 4, 2013 and accessed on July 4, 2016

at https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_ [link or image removed] 2013.pdf [link or image removed]

 

U.S. Geological Survey Manual, “Water Resources Discipline Scientific records disposition schedule,” Section 432-1-S2, accessed on July 4, 2016 at http://www.usgs.gov/usgs- [link or image removed] manual/schedule/432-1-s2/index.html [link or image removed]

 

U.S. Geological Survey Manual, “Fundamental Science Practices: Planning and conducting data collection and research,” Section 502.2, dated December 16, 2011, and accessed on July 4, 2016 at http://www.usgs.gov/usgs-manual/500/502-2.html [link or image removed]

 

U.S. Geological Survey Manual Instructional Memorandum, “Scientific data-management foundation,” IM OSQI 2015-01, accessed on July 4, 2016 at http://www.usgs.gov/usgs- [link or image removed] manual/im/IM-OSQI-2015-01.html [link or image removed]

 

U.S. Geological Survey Manual Instructional Memorandum, “Preservation requirements for digital scientific data,” IM OSQI 2015-04, accessed on July 4, 2016

at http://www.usgs.gov/usgs-manual/im/IM-OSQI-2015-04.html [link or image removed]

 

Water Resources Division Policy Memorandum No. 99.33 “Preservation of original digital field- recorded time-series data, dated September 27, 1999 and accessed August 25, 2016

at http://water.usgs.gov/admin/memo/policy/wrdpolicy99.33.html [link or image removed]

 

Wilde, F.D., 2005, Preparations for water sampling (ver. 2.0): U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, book 9, chap. A1, January 2005, accessed July 4, 2016 at http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/twri9A1/ [link or image removed]

 

Wilde, F.D., Sandstrom, M.W., and Skrobialowski, S.C., 2014, Selection of equipment for water sampling (ver. 3.1): U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, book 9, chap. A2, April 2014, accessed July 4, 2016, at http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/twri9A2/ [link or image removed]