Metadata, or in this case Geospatial Metadata, serves to describe practical information about a particular dataset or spatially referenced database such as an Access database. Metadata on PASDA conforms to the Federal Geospatial Data Committee's (FGDC) Content Standard for Geospatial Metadata.
PASDA On-line Metadata Tutorial
Metadata, or data documentation, is important to data sharing and data management. This on-line tutorial will illustrate the steps to create metadata using the ESRI ArcCatalog tool.
In addition, PASDA will also provide on site metadata training. Interested organizations should contact: pasda@psu.edu.
Frequently asked questions about metadata implementation:
The answers to all of these questions can be found in the metadata. Adequate metadata provides a data layer with a full title and description and identifies the steward of that data, it makes readily apparent the content, quality, sources and collection methods, a data dictionary and other information required for using and archiving data.
Metadata costs nothing but a little time and effort. The files are small and do not require any significant amount of storage. Not having metadata for your data is, however, costly. It costs you and your organization wasted time and money.
Luckily there are many easy to use tools, including the PASDA metadata interview form and other free utilities. For those already using commercial products such as ESRI, there is now ArcCatalog. For more information, see our tutorial on creating metadata in ArcCatalog.
Most importantly you would want to document any data that your organization has that needs to be maintained, stored, or updated over time. In addition, you you want to begin the documentation of new data at the start of any project. In addition, you would want to create metadata for any data that you commonly share with other organizations.
At PASDA, we check with our data providers on an annual or semi-annual basis to see if the metadata needs to be updated. However, the general rule of thumb is to update the metadata when any changes to the data have taken place--adding a new attribute, changing an attribute, publishing a new edition etc.
What are the main components of metadata and what do they mean?
PASDA maintains metadata for all of the data available for download through the site as well as data made available by organizations and government agencies from throughout the state of Pennsylvania. This provides a clearinghouse through which any potential data user can determine if certain data is available and how to go about acquiring that data.
The metadata standard outlines a formal and structured document that contains information that identifies a dataset and provides vital information pertaining to it's use. It also includes information about how to acquire the data and where to contact for more information about the data. But the real reason for metadata is to provide an answer to the most commonly asked questions. If you have a question about data the first place to look is in the metadata. The answer is usually there.
This includes the title, creator or originator of the data, an abstract describing the content of the dataset, keywords for search engines and a contact information for a person or organization for questions pertinent to the content or technical details about the data itself. If the data is available directly through download, a link is provided to the dataset here.
The Data Quality information contains information about the resolution or "scale" of the data, accuracy of the assignment of attributes and the georeferencing of the data. Important information in this section are descriptions of technical processes and citations for sources used in compiling the data whether they be hard copy maps that were digitized, tabular information included in a database, or digital data that was used in the creation of the current data. There is also contact information for further information about the source materials or processes involved in creating the data.
This tells the user whether this is vector or raster data and provides relevant details about the vector objects or pixel dimensions of raster data
A most important section this details the projection or coordinate system and associated modelling specifications necessary for using the data or determining the usefulness of the data.
Provides an overview or detailed information on the attributes in the tables or fields in a database.
This gives information about how the data is available. For data downloaded from the PASDA site the most relevant information will be the format of the data (Arc/Info Export, Shape-file, etc.) and what compression schemes, if any, have been applied to the data. For datasets that are not available online this section will also include the physical formats in which the data is available (CD-ROM, tape cartridge, etc.) and contact information describing where and how to acquire the data.
This is information about the format and creator of the metadata.
I found metadata on PASDA that does not have a data download link. How are Metadata and Data on PASDA related?
The most important function of PASDA is identifying and documenting (creating metadata for) data by, for, or about Pennsylvania. The metadata on PASDA serves the same function as the library catalog in your local library. Without the catalog, you can't find the book or you don't know if the book is the one you want. Metadata tells us where the data is and what it is about in our digital data library known as PASDA. However, it is not always possible to acquire all the data that we document since some data creators prefer to distribute data themselves. In these cases, the PASDA metadata serves to alert our users to the existence of the data and provides contact information so users can aquire the data from the provider.
In what format is PASDA metadata?
PASDA metadata is stored in a relational database but can be viewed as HTML on our website or downloaded in XML format.
What is the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)?
The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is an interagency Committee, organized in 1990 that promotes the coordinated use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data on a national basis.
Are there other organizations involved in metadata standards?
Yes. For those interested in biological metadata, the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) has developed an biological data profile for metadata based on the FGDC model.
Metadata Development Tools
The following is a basic overview of some of the freely available tools that can be installed and used to maintain metadata in-house.
Developed for the Army Corps of Engineers by Coastal Oceanographics, Inc.
From the USGS Biological Resources Division, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center the Metamaker database tool was produced to support the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII). It supports FGDC CSDGM standard metadata as well as additional fields recording biological related information as required by the NBII.
More Information
Below are links to other materials and information resources regarding the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM), the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and clearinghouse and other data sharing initiatives: