Getting Familiar with Metadata Laurie Porth Rocky Mountain Research Station Audience: Scientists/researchers who have heard of metadata and now need to “write” it with minimal effort (archivist will finalize metadata).

Objectives By the end of the presentation audience will be able to list the main sections of the metadata standard and fill out a simple metadata form.

Outline Define Metadata Introduce FGDC & NBII standards Describe 7 main sections of the standard Describe 3 supporting sections Fill out metadata form

Metadata Content, quality, condition, and other characteristics about data Who, what, when, why, where, and how of a data set *Without proper documentation a dataset is useless.

RMRS Metadata Federal Geographic Data Committee / National Biological Info. Infrastructure –Comprehensive and evolvable –FGDC mandatory for spatial data –Data archiving POC requesting NBII

FGDC Metadata Standard Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) –Developed by FGDC –Documents geographic / spatial data

NBII Metadata Standard CSDGM Part 1: Biological Data Profile –Superset of CSDGM –Developed by FGDC & USGS Biological Res. Div. –Documentation works for… Geospatial data Non-geospatial data Biological data Physical data Social Science data &

Main Sections FGDC Metadata Standard 1. Identification 2. Data Quality 3. Spatial Data Org. 4. Spatial Reference 5. Entity and Attrib. 6. Distribution 7. Metadata Ref. 9. Time Period 10. Contact 8. Citation Supporting Sections

Metadata Conditionality Mandatory: Mandatory: must be provided Mandatory if applicable: Mandatory if applicable: must be provided if the data set exhibits the defined characteristic Optional: Optional: provided at the discretion of the data producer

Metadata File Types Ascii text XML –Like HTML –Tags user-defined –Can be searched easily –Multi-platform Word document … converted to ascii or XML

Main Sections FGDC Metadata Standard 1. Identification

Dataset name Author Dataset description & Status Spatial domain Keywords Access constraints Point of contact Data illustrations

Main Sections FGDC Metadata Standard 1. Identification 2. Data Quality

Attribute accuracy –Accuracy of entities –How good are the data Logical consistency report –Methods to ensure data accuracy –Outlier checks Completeness report –Omissions –Selection criteria –Rules used to derive data Lineage –Methodology (field or laboratory steps) –Process (steps followed data collection complete)

Main Sections FGDC Metadata Standard 1. Identification 2. Data Quality 3. Spatial Data Org.

Indirect spatial reference Direct spatial reference Point & vector OR raster object info

Main Sections FGDC Metadata Standard 1. Identification 2. Data Quality 3. Spatial Data Org. 4. Spatial Reference

Coordinates –Geographic (lon/lat) –Planar (projections, grid coords, etc.) –Local planar Vertical coordinate system definition

Main Sections FGDC Metadata Standard 1. Identification 2. Data Quality 3. Spatial Data Org. 4. Spatial Reference 5. Entity and Attrib.

5. Entity and Attributes Entity and Attribute overview –Name of variables in dataset –Brief description of each variable Citation for details –Official document –Unpublished material

Main Sections FGDC Metadata Standard 1. Identification 2. Data Quality 3. Spatial Data Org. 4. Spatial Reference 5. Entity and Attrib. 6. Distribution

Distributor Distribution Liability Ordering Process –Data formats –Price –Online availability

Main Sections FGDC Metadata Standard 1. Identification 2. Data Quality 3. Spatial Data Org. 4. Spatial Reference 5. Entity and Attrib. 6. Distribution 7. Metadata Ref.

7. Metadata Reference Date developed Metadata contact Metadata standard –Name –Version

Questions How many main sections are in the standard?

Questions What are the 7 main sections?

Questions Which 2 sections are not used much in the NBII standard?

Questions? Contact: Laurie Porth Websites: FSWEB – submission forms, metadata forms & archiving info: INTERNET – accessing data archive:

Class Exercise Fill out metadata form.