What are Geospatial Metadata? Understanding the Value and Importance of Proper Data Documentation MAGIC State Project leads and POC’s: Arkansas Iowa Kansas Missouri Learon Dalby Patrick Wilke-Brown Eileen Battles Mark Duewell AGIO Iowa DNR KGS UMC/MSDIS Nebraska North Dakota Oklahoma Adonna Fleming Bob Nutsch Shellie Willoughby UNL State GIS Coordinator OGI South Dakota Tim Teaford GIS Prog / Analyst The Mid-America Geographic Information System Consortium (MAGIC) Regional Metadata Creators Workshop

Acknowledgements This workshop adaptation and offering in the MAGIC states is funded through an FGDC 2007 Category 1 CAP grant. We shamelessly borrowed and incorporated existing metadata training material from the FGDC, the USGS, and the NOAA Coastal Services Center and particularly the materials of the Virginia Metadata Resource Toolkit developed by - John McGee The Virginia Geospatial Extension Program James Wilson Old Dominion University (757) Lyle Hornbaker VGIN (804)

Jeff Patridge – MO DHSS\ Tim Haithcoat – MO GIO / MSDIS / GRC Additional acknowledgements… Leslie Bearden – USGS Ray Fox – USGS

First the important stuff… Make sure that you are legally parked! Lunch is being provided, thanks to the workshop sponsor (XXXXXXX). You are on your own for breaks (sorry!) The rest rooms are located ???????.

Help us to educate YOU! This should be an INTERACTIVE workshop…PLEASE feel free to ask questions, provide comments, give suggestions, and offer real world experiences along the way (don’t wait until the end!!!)

Workshop Overview This workshop is designed for individuals who are new to or infrequent practitioners of - metadata creation. It will provide you with the information you need to make decisions associated with metadata implementation in your organization.

Workshop Topics Section 1: What is Metadata Section 2: The Value of Metadata and Tips for Institutionalizing Metadata Section 3: Metadata Standards Section 4: Metadata Clearinghouses Section 5: Writing Metadata

What is Metadata? How many times have you received data from someone, and had questions about it? –Attribution –Projection / coordinate system –Scale –Accuracy –Completeness

Setting the Stage Geospatial Refers to any data set tied to a location on the Earth’s surface. The term “geospatial” refers to GIS, GPS, and remote sensing products and services. Metadata When referring to metadata, we assume the metadata is well-written and fully developed.

Simply put, metadata is information about your data. What is Metadata? Note: Metadata is not your actual spatial data…however, it serves as a reference for your spatial data

This is the metadata for this. What’s Missing? John Cole

This is the metadata for this. What’s missing?

This is the metadata for this. While the card-catalog entry is a form of metadata, it does not address topics such as quality, accuracy, or scale. Well-written geospatial metadata describes these and many more aspects of the data. Rodale's illustrated encyclopedia of herbs ISBN: x (pbk.) : $17.95 ISBN: : $24.95 Title: Rodale's illustrated encyclopedia of herbs / Claire Kowalchik & William H. Hylton, editors ; writers, Anna Carr... [et al.]. Publication info: Emmaus, Pa. : Rodale Press, c1987. Physical descrip: vi, 545 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cm. General Note: Includes index. Subject term: Herbs. Subject term: Herbs--Utilization. Subject term: Herb gardening. Subject term: Herbs--History. Subject term: Herbals. Added author: Kowalchik, Claire. Added author: Hylton, William H. Added author: Carr, Anna, Added author: Rodale Press. Rodale's illustrated encyclopedia of herbs ISBN: x (pbk.) : $17.95 ISBN: : $24.95 Title: Rodale's illustrated encyclopedia of herbs / Claire Kowalchik & William H. Hylton, editors ; writers, Anna Carr... [et al.]. Publication info: Emmaus, Pa. : Rodale Press, c1987. Physical descrip: vi, 545 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cm. General Note: Includes index. Subject term: Herbs. Subject term: Herbs--Utilization. Subject term: Herb gardening. Subject term: Herbs--History. Subject term: Herbals. Added author: Kowalchik, Claire. Added author: Hylton, William H. Added author: Carr, Anna, Added author: Rodale Press. What’s missing?

This is the metadata for this.

Metadata is not “the spatial data”, but it is a vital component of the spatial data… What is NOT metadata…

Metadata is not “cool” But remember that there are many critical things in life that are not “cool” (i.e. seat belts, life jackets, fire escapes, archived data, etc.)

Metadata is not “ BIG data” (that would be mega-data…!) What is NOT metadata…

Properly documented data provides vital information to interested parties. A Component of Data

Metadata is that component of data which describes it. Water line data base A Component of Data Metadata Wdth – diameter of pipe in inches Mat – material of pipe Method – Method of data capture Date1 – Installation date of conduit Date2 – Date that spatial data capture was made

Metadata describes… CONTENT CONDITION QUALITY Characteristics of the data Characteristics of the data A Component of Data

Metadata can describe a variety of data. Title Scale Source Content Location Publication Access Title Scale Source Content Location Publication Access MetadataMetadata A Component of Data GIS files Imagery Geospatial Databases GPS data Biological data In situ data GIS files Imagery Geospatial Databases GPS data Biological data In situ data 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. Metadata Non-spatial or attributes Spatial Take Home Message Metadata is a critical and integral component of any complete data set. Metadata is a critical and integral component of any complete data set.

Summary… You can share metadata with others, without sharing your spatial data assets… Metadata can save you time (whether you are on the “giving end” or the “receiving end”). Metadata has always been important, HOWEVER, metadata is increasingly vital as we share more data instantaneously (server-based solutions, etc.)

Exercise - #1 Getting to Know Metadata Choose a metadata file Review the file and answer some basic (but important) questions! Gain some initial familiarity with a real metadata file…