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Metadata 101 joy of Metadata Common terms What is metadata? Why metadata?

C OMMON T ERMS Metadata - This is a formal definition of metadata. In data processing, metadata is definitional data that provides information about or documentation of other data managed within an application or environment. FGDC – Federal Geographic Data Committee. A 19 member interagency committee with representatives from the Executive Office of the President, Cabinet-level and independent agencies. The FGDC is developing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) in cooperation with State, Local and tribal governments, academic community and the private sector. FGDC approved its metadata standard in June CSDGM – The objectives of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata is to provide a common set of terminology and definitions for the documentation of digital geospatial data. ISO - (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer of voluntary International Standards. Founded in 1947.ISO is a network of national standards bodies. These national standards bodies make up the ISO membership and they represent ISO in their country. Clearinghouse – The Clearinghouse Activity sponsored by the FGDC, is a decentralized system of servers located on the Internet which contain field-level descriptions (or metadata) of available digital spatial data. The standard format facilitates queries and a consistent presentation. Geospatial data – as defined by FGDC: information that identifies the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on the earth. This information may be derived from, among other things, remote sensing, mapping, and surveying technologies

M ETADATA 101 What is Metadata Why is Metadata important?

W HAT IS M ETADATA ? Metadata is information (documentation) about data Metadata Functions Documentation Management Discovery Access Understanding (use) Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How

A NSWERS Q UESTIONS … Who collected the data? processed the data? wrote the metadata? to contact for questions? to contact to get the data? owns the data? funded the data? What are the data about? project was data collected for? are any constraints on access? use? is the quality of the data? are the appropriate uses? parameters where measured? format are the data in? Where were the data collected? were the data processed? are the data located? When were the data collected? when were the data processed? How were the data collected? were the data processed? do I access the data? do I order the data? much do the data costs? was the quality assessed? Why were the data collected?

W E OFTEN USE METADATA WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING IT. Some samples?

This is the metadata for this. What’s Missing? Aurora with comet W HAT IS M ETADATA ?

Author(s) Boullosa, Carmen. Title(s) They're cows, we're pigs / by Carmen Boullosa Place New York : Grove Press, Physical Descr viii, 180 p ; 22 cm. Subject(s) Pirates Caribbean Area Fiction. Format Fiction Author(s) Boullosa, Carmen. Title(s) They're cows, we're pigs / by Carmen Boullosa Place New York : Grove Press, Physical Descr viii, 180 p ; 22 cm. Subject(s) Pirates Caribbean Area Fiction. Format Fiction While the card-catalog entry is a form of metadata, it does not address topics such as quality, accuracy, or scale. Well-written metadata describes these and many more aspects of the data. What is Metadata? This is the metadata for this. W HAT IS METADATA ?

Identification_Information Citation Citation_Information Originator: NOAA Coastal Services Center Publication_Date: Title: Hurricane Storm Surge Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Map Publication_Information Publication_Place: Charleston, SC Publisher: NOAA Coastal Services Center Larger_Work_Citation Citation_Information Identification_Information Citation Citation_Information Originator: NOAA Coastal Services Center Publication_Date: Title: Hurricane Storm Surge Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Map Publication_Information Publication_Place: Charleston, SC Publisher: NOAA Coastal Services Center Larger_Work_Citation Citation_Information at is Metadata? This is the metadata for this. W HAT IS M ETADATA ?

Metadata contains vital information Without a label, how would you know which one to open? Dog Food? Ravioli? Imagine being given two identical cans. Your task is to choose one to eat. But here’s the catch. Neither can has a label. Which would you choose?

A C OMPONENT OF D ATA Properly documented data provides vital information to interest parties.

A COMPONENT OF METADATA A recipe contains elements of metadata… Author Ingredients Methods Time to create Servings

A COMPONENT OF METADATA A published map contains elements of metadata… Publisher Publication date Type of map Title/Description Spatial references Scale and accuracy Sources Legend

A COMPONENT OF DATA

Metadata is that component of data which describes it. Environmental Sensitivity Index Data Metadata RARNUM - unique combination of species, concentration, and seasonality CONC (concentration) = Density species is found at location Season_ID = seasonality code like to the seasonal table Element - Biology group A COMPONENT OF DATA

Metadata describes… Content Condition Quality Characteristics of the data

Metadata is a critical component of a complete data set. A COMPONENT OF DATA Because metadata provides vital information about a dataset, it should never be viewed or treated as a separate entity.

1980 HEW Teheran British Honduras Cape Hatteras Light Mt. St. Helen West Germany 2005 HHS & HUD Tehran Belize Cape Hatteras Light Mt. St. Helen Germany M ETADATA SHOULD BE UPDATED TO REFLECT THE CHANGES IN THE DATA

T HE V ALUE OF M ETADATA Why metadata?

W HY DOES AN ORGANIZATION NEED TO BE ABLE TO TRACK ITS DATA OR WORK ? What about the employee who is ready to retire? Do you know what he did or how he did it? What were his processing steps? What about the grad student who is leaving? Do you even know where their data is?

P ROPERLY DOCUMENTING A DATA SET IS THE KEY TO PRESERVING ITS USEFULNESS THROUGH TIME

F OR DATA DEVELOPERS, METADATA HELPS TO... Avoid duplication Share reliable information Publicize efforts Reduce workload

F OR ORGANIZATIONS, METADATA HELPS TO... Protect investment in data Create an institutional memory Counter personnel changes Allow sharing of data with other agencies Save time and money Limit potential liability

F OR DATA USERS, METADATA... Facilitates understanding Focuses on key elements Enables discovery inside and outside of organizations Find data of interest Determine data usefulness Determine data access

Q UESTIONS ? Contact