Writing Metadata Working Towards Best Practices for SEFSC

Metadata Publication Metadata Validation. Ensure that the metadata is standards compliant (follows the standard in use). Metadata Approval. The metadata should be reviewed and approved by a Subject Matter Expert or other Program Manager, in accordance with existing policies. Metadata Publication. Publish the metadata to a clearinghouse, WAF, or other repository so that the metadata content is publicly available. Metadata is WAF can be harvested to data.gov, noaa.data.gov as needed. Discovery Portal Data Inventory Metadata Creation. Who will write the metadata? It is easier for someone more familiar with the data to write the metadata. Who will be responsible for metadata updates? Which tools will be used to create the metadata? Updates Metadata Assessment. First, a data inventory of the data that needs to be documented should be performed. What kind of data is it? How is the data going to be made available? Where will the data reside? Where will the data be archived? Metadata Assessment Metadata Creation Metadata Validation Metadata Approval Validation tool SME Metadata Workflow

Tips for Writing Metadata First records are the hardest Not all fields may need to be filled in Tools are available Training classes can be taken Can often be produced automatically Can (and should) be reviewed for updates

Writing Metadata Organize your information Write your metadata file Review your file Have someone else review ReviseRevise PublishPublish Organize your information Write your metadata file Review your file Have someone else review ReviseRevise PublishPublish

Writing Metadata Before you begin writing, get organized Document your data as you go Write so others can understand Always review your document

Keep Your Reader In Mind Write simply but completely Document for a general audience Be consistent in style and terminology Define acronyms Avoid using jargon Clearly state data limitations

Writing Metadata Write a complete “Title” What Where When Who

Which is better? Greater Yellowstone Rivers from 1:126,700 Forest Visitor Maps ( ) The title is critical in helping others find your data.

Vague: We checked our work and it looks complete. Specific: We checked our work using 3 separate sets of check plots reviewed by 2 different people. We determined our work to be 95% complete based on these visual inspections. Vague: We checked our work and it looks complete. Specific: We checked our work using 3 separate sets of check plots reviewed by 2 different people. We determined our work to be 95% complete based on these visual inspections. Be specific. Quantify when you can.

Select your keywords wisely Use unambiguous words Use descriptive words Fully quality geographic locations – Don’t rely on extent – Use place keywords as well

VARIOUS STANDARDS Tools and Techniques

Creation Methods – ISO Several ways to create ISO Metadata Transform from existing metadata Use templates Create from “scratch”

ISO Creation Methods

Some Helpful Items – ISO Metadata standard and/or workbook metadata entry tool Knowledge of the data templates

Creating ISO Metadata From “Scratch ” General Steps for XML Editors Open Editor Create New XML Document Associate Schema with XML Document – Use Offline Schema OR – Online Schema Select Root Element – MI_Metadata Edit File in Editing Window – Use Entry Helper Features – Use Auto-population Features

Your input here is an xml version of a CSDGM record. XSLT Transformation csdgm2iso19115.xslt Your result is an xml instance of an ISO record. Transforming Metadata Existing standard metadata Target metadata standard format

Transforming Metadata This is a part of the mapping for FGDC CSDGM to ISO Comments are Best Practices or Questions

Other Transformations ISO to FGDC DIF to ISO FGDC THREDDS netCDF to ISO Various ISO and FGDC views Custom transforms – from databases to metadata standards

Some Helpful Items – FGDC CSDGM standard and/or workbook metadata entry tool Knowledge of the data templates

InPort – NMFS Metadata Catalog internal catalog structure exports to different standards

Metadata Publication Metadata Validation. Ensure that the metadata is standards compliant (follows the standard in use). Metadata Approval. The metadata should be reviewed and approved by a Subject Matter Expert or other Program Manager, in accordance with existing policies. Metadata Publication. Publish the metadata to a clearinghouse, WAF, or other repository so that the metadata content is publicly available. Metadata is WAF can be harvested to data.gov, noaa.data.gov as needed. data.gov/noaa.data.gov Data Inventory Metadata Creation. Who will write the metadata? It is easier for someone more familiar with the data to write the metadata. Who will be responsible for metadata updates? Which tools will be used to create the metadata? Updates Metadata Assessment. First, a data inventory of the data that needs to be documented should be performed. What kind of data is it? How is the data going to be made available? Where will the data reside? Where will the data be archived? Metadata Assessment Metadata Creation Metadata Validation Metadata Approval Validation tool SME Metadata Workflow

QUESTIONS?