Inclusion of metadata preparation as part of all new geospatial data project, with budgeting of effort from the onset. Describe how you've disseminated information about your project. The latter, direct contact, has been most effective. We were able to come up to speed quickly by learning from the experiences of others, and especially the experience of our EDC collaborators. We expect to continue to run an NGDC node, and to institutionalize the NSDI 2.
Sustained funding is our biggest challenge.
If possible, include sufficient budgeting for data management in the base budget. If supported by external funds, be sure to budget consistently for creation and curation of metadata. And with some new partners. Better organization of and access to databases, both our own and those of collaborators. Inclusion of metadata preparation as part of all new geospatial data project, with budgeting of effort from the onset.