A database with established transfer formats, definitions, and spatial registration greatly promotes dissemination of scientific data and information in a cost-effective manner.

Shared databases may help elevate the quality and quantity of available information. By acquiring data from the database, individual users can certify and evaluate data. With appropriate management oversight, this generally leads to improved consistency and increased reliability in the database.

The metadatabase will describe a variety of data types, including analog and digital maps, reports, abstracts, executive summaries, articles, images, fact sheets, and tabular hydrologic, geologic, and biologic data.

Information in the database will be available to customers by the most modern means, including the Internet and CD-ROM.

In April 1994, the President signed Executive Order 12906, Coordinating Geographic Data Acquisition and Access: The National Spatial Data Infrastructure. This executive order instructed Federal agencies to use the FGDC standard to document new geospatial data beginning in January 1995 and to provide these metadata to the public through the National Geo-spatial Data Clearinghouse.

The clearinghouse concept has at least two levels of implementation. At the basic level, a clearinghouse site is part of an electronic network and has informa-tion about geospatial data (metadata) that originate from a particular organization. The site provides a searching mechanism that allows the public to search and retrieve metadata based on particular properties of the data (for example, location, theme, author.) The returned information (metadata elements) describes basic information, location, quality statements, format, attributes, currentness, and distribution information.

At an even more useful level, the site adds a convenient mechanism for retrieving the geospatial data itself through the online file transfer protocol (ftp) process. Further, the clearinghouse could provide browse versions (filtered subsets) of datasets that can be viewed before file transfer. This will ensure that the dataset truly contains the kind or extent of information that is needed.

When the metadatabase is online, the public will have access to information that describes the availability of data, its characteristics, and its accessibility.

There is a high level of interest in the south Florida restoration community. An online means of adding and updating information (with appropriate approvals) will broaden the level of participation by attracting other users and new data contributors who are outside of the restoration community but interested in south Florida issues generally.

After the first year, participation will be widened to include other Federal, State, and local agencies as well as non-governmental partners.

For information on other USGS products and services,
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