Clarify table types / restrict table access

[aesharpe]

Overview

The goal of the project is for users to easily find the tables that are most useful to them.

We want to help with this by drawing clearer boundaries around PUDL data, specifically, the out/core/raw tables.

This project has the potential to have phases with varying levels of existential implication. At the most basic, this could entail restricting access to out tables in the user portal or doing a better job of explaining the difference between each of the table types. At a higher level, this could mean defining what goes in PUDL in the first place and whether we should store data in multiple databases.

We should consider different access methods, and the unique and shared challenges associated with the users of each finding the tables they need; e.g., whether each method should be able to "see" by default, all tables, or a subset containing only easily-consumable tables.

This project will have two phases:

• Research & Design: [link to design doc] - 15-20
• Implementation - TBD (<40)

Success Criteria

• Fewer questions about which tables to use, among tables that contain similar information at different levels of refinement
• Catalyst members have decided (for the moment) whether to split PUDL output into multiple databases for different kinds of access.
• Catalyst members have identified a heuristic for deciding, or have decided, what tables are displayed in each access method.

Next steps

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1. Convene a group to brainstorm ideas about how this could be implemented
2. Figure out if any of those ideas could be in sequence / phases
3. Come up with an implementation plan
4. Implement!