1. The MEDIN stylesheet and ESRI Arc 10: metadata format conversion
October 2016
NOC Liverpool
The MEDIN stylesheet and ESRI Arc 10: metadata format conversion

2. Arc metadata
October 2016
NOC Liverpool
ESRI ArcGIS metadata are stored as XML data (as occurs with other ESRI software)
Arc XML does adhere to international industry standards
– BUT! The XML does not follow the ISO standard (XML implementation of the ISO standard for geospatial metadata)

3. Marine ESRI metadata ≠ MEDIN metadata 
October 2016
NOC Liverpool
MEDIN also store metadata as XML
MEDIN metadata also follow industry standards
MEDIN metadata must follow the ISO XML encoding
MEDIN metadata must comply with MEDIN discovery metadata schema as shown earlier
Marine ESRI metadata ≠ MEDIN metadata 
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4. Differences betwe ARC & MEDIN XML

5. Fixing the problem! 2 stage process
October 2016
NOC Liverpool
2 stage process
Population of ArcCatalog metadata with suitable entries to meet MEDIN metadata standard
Transformation of Arc XML to MEDIN XML
MEDIN provides resources to support this
ArcGIS 9 Metadata
ArcGIS 10 Metadata
MEDIN Metadata
Transformation
2 stage process
Population of ArcCatalog metadata with suitable entries to meet MEDIN metadata standard
Transformation of Arc XML to MEDIN XML
MEDIN provides resources to support this

6. Population of metadata in ArcCatalog
Select ‘INSPIRE Metadata Directive’ from the available metadata styles
Turn off auto-population so only MEDIN required metadata are entered manually
Ensure that no style controls are active when entering the metadata. Plain text only should be used.
When the user interface appears, work down through the topics on the left hand side, starting with Item Description.
Need Guidance?
Use the appropriate ArcGIS MEDIN converter guide (see GIS tools on MEDIN website), MEDIN metadata standard guidelines and DASSH helpdesk for assistance on populating everything

7. Transformation Stylesheets
October 2016
NOC Liverpool
e.g. Internal use
e.g. External / Publish to DAC
Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT)
Specifies rules for transforming one XML instance into another XML instance
The output XML instance will have a different structure from the input XML instance
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8. Transform Procedure Download MEDIN stylesheets (available on website)
October 2016
NOC Liverpool
Download MEDIN stylesheets (available on website)
(ArcGIS 9 version)
ArcGIS 10 version
Locate saved complete ARC XML metadata record
Convert using stylesheet in one of:
ArcGIS 9 or 10 ArcToolBox
Metadata Maestro
Other XSL stylesheet processor if desired
Stylesheets can be implemented using Metadata Maestro or the ArcGIS 9 or 10 ArcToolBox
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9. Stylesheet Tools October 2016 NOC Liverpool Page 9
MEDIN provides applications, such as Metadata Maestro, which provide a means of applying XSL Stylesheets (version 1.0) to XML.
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10. Validation Transformation of XML instance does not mean work complete
October 2016
NOC Liverpool
Transformation of XML instance does not mean work complete
Some required fields in MEDIN XML that cannot be populated through ArcCatalog
Population in ArcCatalog and transformation does not guarantee correct XML structure
Therefore, need to validate in Metadata Maestro or online tool

11. MEDIN GIS reference layers
October 2016
NOC Liverpool
MEDIN provide 115 GIS reference layers on many marine topics – compiled by a range of organisations
Layers are categorised using INSPIRE themes.
All layers available under the Open Government Licence
Downloadable using a searchable interface at