DCAT catalog record

A catalog record is the description a publisher files about a dataset: title, description, publisher, tags, last-modified date and links out to the actual files. In DCAT terms the record is the catalogue entry; the data sits behind distribution links on the publisher's own site.

The cataloged data.gov machinery-manufacturing slice makes the distinction measurable. The record is tagged 'dcat', 'open data' and 'government catalog', with granularity stated as 'Dataset-level catalog records; content granularity varies by publisher'. Site-wide the catalog holds about 552,000 records, yet the query 'machinery manufacturing' returns only 4 relevance-ranked hits - a Connecticut machinery exemption report, Census Economic Census materials-consumed tables and the NIST Manufacturing Cost Guide. The record's own licensing notes add a data-freshness warning: the Connecticut exemption report 'is repealed effective October 2026, so that series will stop updating'.

A catalog hit is a promise about metadata, not about data volume, and buyers who size projects from record counts get burned.

• Thin results are normal, not failure. 4 hits out of roughly 552,000 records for machinery manufacturing says the federal catalog simply does not index much machinery data - budget for industry sources rather than assuming catalog depth.

• Records age even when catalogs do not. The catalog updates daily, but the Connecticut exemption report it describes is repealed effective October 2026; a live record can still point at a dying series.

• Content granularity is the publisher's choice. The cataloged granularity note - 'content granularity varies by publisher' - means two records with identical metadata shape can hide a national monthly series or a single PDF.

• Licensing follows the publisher, not the catalog. data.gov imposes no terms; federal records are generally commercial delivery terms while state and local publishers set their own.

1. Size the catalog against your query before committing. About 552,000 records site-wide but only 4 relevance-ranked hits for 'machinery manufacturing' - run your own keyword test first.
2. Open the distribution, not just the record. Granularity is 'Dataset-level catalog records; content granularity varies by publisher', so the record alone cannot tell you the row structure you will get.
3. Check whether the underlying series is still alive. The Connecticut machinery exemption report in the cataloged results is repealed effective October 2026 - verify each hit's series is not scheduled to stop.

Where to see it in context, and the access term that pairs with it:

• official-api — The access method behind data.gov's catalog search, which returns these records as JSON.