EPOS MSL data catalogue - Vision, Mission, Strategy and Workshops

The EPOS Multi-Scale Labs data catalogue is a European entry point for lab data, laboratories, and equipment. It covers rock and melt physics, paleomagnetism, geochemistry, microscopy, tomography, analogue modelling, and field-scale labs.

Alongside development, I initiated and ran most of the work that shaped MSL's direction: mission and vision discussions, sessions with domain experts, survey research, and discussions about which tools to build next. The implementation is covered in Website Design and Development.

Direction and positioning

A catalogue can become a search page without a clear purpose. We needed to agree on who MSL serves, how it relates to EPOS, and what progress looks like beyond dataset numbers.

I initiated and ran mission and vision sessions with the MSL team. We discussed researchers, repositories, and labs as separate audiences; the path from publishing to harvesting and rediscovery; and the language for the About and contribution pages.

These discussions informed later content and product work. The catalogue needed to show that it contained useful material, explain contribution steps clearly, and make vocabularies usable rather than leaving them in documentation.

Workshops with domain experts

Different lab domains use "data," "equipment," and "contribution" differently. Those differences matter when deciding what a catalogue should support.

At conferences and in online sessions, I organised and ran workshops with international domain experts on publishing, finding peer labs, and describing methods with controlled vocabulary terms.

The sessions informed survey scenarios, vocabulary work, and the split between data search, lab and equipment browsing, and contribution routes.

Survey research and tooling ideas

Some needs called for a small tool rather than another catalogue page: keyword selection, structured intake, and scenario-based feedback.

I initiated and facilitated online sessions with domain participants, moving from problem framing to rough concepts and priorities. The work helped prioritise surveys, vocabulary workflows, and contribution guidance, and it also gave the team reasons to postpone other ideas.

For scenario-based surveys across analogue modelling, rock physics, paleomagnetism, geochemistry, microtomography, and field-scale labs, I worked on sketches, pilot interviews, consent and GDPR notes, domain-specific question filtering, analysis, and decisions with experts. This work led to changes such as placeholder options, "no contribution" paths, and domain filtering.

The live survey system and scenarios that came out of this research are covered in Website Design and Development.

This was ongoing work with the team and domain experts, not a one-off strategy exercise. It helped connect the catalogue's stated purpose with the needs raised by its communities.