WHY PERFORM THE QC:  During the local to central data exchange process, all EO records that are marked as "Do Not Exchange", as well as component SF(s), will not be provided to Central. In addition, because of the local to central data exchange process for "groups" of related records, if the "do-not-exchange" EO is involved in a principal/sub relationship, all other principal, sub, and sibling EOs in the record group are also silently excluded from the local-to-central update to NatureServe. (Excluded records do not appear in the import report because they are not exported.) Running the QC and reviewing the records will potentially reduce the number of EO records that are missing from Central. 


WHAT THE QUERY DOES: This query finds EO records where the EO or any related EO records are flagged as "Do Not Exchange" (do_not_exchange_ind = 'Y'). All records that are returned by the query will be excluded from the local-to-central data updates.


ACTION: 

Review the results of the query and make any edits (if needed) to values in the do_not_exchange_ind field.


IMPORTANT: 

Although excluding EOs from the DX process may sometimes be required, we strongly recommend network programs do this sparingly. Excluding EOs means that when NatureServe does any reporting (e.g., number of EOs), habitat modeling, or other species assessment, including global conservation status rank assessments, these data will not be included in that work. Data gaps contribute to misleading or inaccurate results.


Instead, NatureServe recommends that Network Programs use Biotics  (or other local data management system) to mark sensitive EOs (even EOs that you would never allow NatureServe to provide to a client) as sensitive at the EO level or Element level, and then use the Data Provider Portal (DPP) to define the rules on how NatureServe should handle sensitive EO data in requests from third parties. In the DPP you can indicate specific Elements or EOs that need to have the locations generalized or excluded from data requests. Once the rules are set, they can be viewed and updated by Network Programs at any time. NatureServe will notify or confirm, as required, a Network Program’s participation each time a new data request comes in. We always abide by the rules you define in the DPP, and if you have not addressed everything in the DPP, we will confirm any rules that need to be applied before providing data to any external party.


If an EO must be excluded, you can check the “Do Not Exchange” box in the Record Maintenance section of the EO. These records will not be inserted into Central, and if the records already exist in Central they will be deleted. Please be aware that if you mark as “Do Not Exchange” any principal or subEOs, the entire set of EOs (principal EO plus all subEOs) will be removed from the Central database.


If your program has not yet filled out the DPP, it is recommended that you do the following. 

  • Review the Data Provider Portal StoryMap that walks you through the DPP step by step
  • (If needed) set up an account by signing up here using your email address and submit a ticket to [email protected] so that we can add you to the DPP access group (it may take a day or two to take effect)
  • Contact NatureServe with questions or to set up a call to walk through the DPP step-by-step. Email us at: [email protected].