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# Preface {.unnumbered}

## ESIP BDS Primer Guide Suite of Documents

The [ESIP Biological Data Standards Cluster](https://wiki.esipfed.org/Biological_Data_Standards_Cluster) formed in 2020 to maximize data relevance and utility for understanding changes in biodiversity over time. To accomplish this the cluster facilitates guidance, best practice documentation, training, and community building for the US biological data community. The first product from this cluster [Biological Data Standards Primer](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16806712.v2), while an easy to digest resource, does not provide the context data managers need to decide which standards to use for the data they are working with. The guides are intended to be a bridge between the full, lengthy standards documentation, and the short primer quick reference. The first document being developed is for the "Make Your Data Software Ready?" section of the primer.

### How to contribute

If you would like to suggest changes or additions to the current version of the best practice documents, please use the [GitHub issues](https://github.com/ESIPFed/bds-primer-best-practices/issues/new/choose) to document your request. The current draft can be seen as a rendered webpage [here](https://esipfed.github.io/bds-primer-best-practices/index.html).

### Structure

The structure for each section is:

-   Value proposition (Why?)
-   List / key information (bulleted)
-   References list