04/18/23Paul Cote 1Harvard UniversityGraduate School of Design

Developing a Culture of Information Stewardship

At the Graduate School of Design

04/18/23Paul Cote 2Harvard UniversityGraduate School of Design

Harvard Graduate School of Design

Students:

250 Architecture

100 Landscape Architecture

150 Urban Planning and Design

04/18/23Paul Cote 3Harvard UniversityGraduate School of Design

Harvard Graduate School of Design

Mission: Train Students

To Understand Places

To develop and communicate alternative futures

To lead firms and agencies associated with shaping the future of the environment.

04/18/23Paul Cote 4Harvard UniversityGraduate School of Design

Studio Culture:An Engine for Place-Based Information

Each Term: Entire School deployed on 20 Place-Based Studio Projects.Collaborative groups of 9-15 students.

04/18/23Paul Cote 5Harvard UniversityGraduate School of Design

Studio/Thesis Information Lifecycle

Collect Information:Site PhotosGIS DataCAD DataDocuments

Synthesis / Study:MapsDigital 3D ModelsPhysical 3D ModelsGIS Models

Presentation Materials:Maps3D ModelsAnimationsDocuments

Start Semester Finish

End of Term

LACK OF

PREDICTABLE

ORGANIZATION

AND METADATA

04/18/23Paul Cote 6Harvard UniversityGraduate School of Design

Promoting a Culture of Information Stewardship

• Develop and document best practices for filing place-based data collections• Provide tools for tagging collections and files with

metadata including spatial and temporal references• Provide tools for cataloging and searching

collections of data temporally and spatially• Motivate collaborators and leaders to organize

their data well

04/18/23Paul Cote 7Harvard UniversityGraduate School of Design

Information Stewardship Best Practices

Documentation:Beginning your Place-Based Data Collectionhttp://www.gsd.harvard.edu/gis/manual/beginning

Tools:MapCat collection metadata toolhttp://www.gsd.harvard.edu/gis/ma

Motivation:Increased productivity of collaboratorsPreservation of value in information assets