Metadata and documentation are required to ensure dashboards and data sources are clearly understood, discoverable, trusted, and aligned with governance standards.
Metadata is information about data – such as where it is coming from, refresh frequency, and limitations. Metadata and documentation enable users to confidently interpret data while supporting consistency and transparency across the institution. As such, metadata is required – not optional – and must be fully completed prior to submission or publication to production.
Metadata Requirements
All Dashboards/Workbooks
At a minimum, the following must be completed:
- Content Description
- A clear summary of the dashboard’s purpose
- What question(s) the dashboard answers
- Intended audience
- Source system(s) or data origin
Data Sources
At a minimum, the following must be completed
- Data Source description
- Purpose of the data source
- Intended or appropriate use cases (what it should and should not be used for)
- Known limitations or caveats
- Refresh frequency
Fields
At a minimum, definitions for all fields and metrics displayed or used in the dashboard. This includes fields that appear in visualizations, are used in filters or calculations, represent critical concepts or business logic.
Metadata Placement Requirements
To support both end users in Tableau Server and the data catalog, metadata must be provided in catalog-compatible fields. Examples include workbook description or field definitions on a data source as these fields are ingested by the data catalog – ensuring content is searchable and discoverable.
Please note, providing documentation only in a separate worksheet, tab, container, or technical spec page does not meet minimum requirements unless the same content is also entered in catalog-compatible fields.
Guiding Principles
- Clarity over completeness
- Prioritize documenting what is actively used and visible
- Consistency
- Use shared definitions where possible
- Reusability
- Documentation should support both human users and systems
- Maintainability
- Metadata should be updated as content evolves