Amid the growth of climate change research, there has been increased interest in the relationships between climatic and non-climatic variables. Several large projects have been initiated to examine the impact of climate variations on ecosystems, population, disease transmission and human health. In addition, climatologists are stepping up their use of non-climatic (e.g., ocean and land surface) data in the analysis of the causes of climate variability. While researchers generally keep abreast of what data are available in their field of expertise, scientists attempting interdisciplinary assessments often find it difficult to locate and properly interpret relevant data from other fields.
An effective means of locating data from other disciplines is though the use of a metadata directory such as the Global Change Master Directory. Metadata, or data about data, provides a summary of the contents of a data set as well as ancillary information about its location, format and retrieval policies. Metadata records allow scientists unfamiliar with the associated data set the ability to assess its relevance to their research. Furthermore, these records, in a standard format, often are included in searchable on-line directories like the Global Change Master Directory. This allows researchers to gain an instant and comprehensive overview of data sets available in other disciplines and learn how those data can be obtained. Thus a metadata directory serves as a valuable resource that can reduce the time needed to locate required data.