Overview
Due
to the increasing availability of geospatial
data on the web, and the expanding universe
of GIS users, accurate
and up-to-date metadata is more than ever
a key part of data use, maintenance, and
development.
The
creation of metadata
that conforms to GIS community standards,
that is closely integrated with your data,
and is stored in industry-standard XML format
is critical to making your data fully useful
to your clients. It ensures institutional
continuity, fosters good data maintenance
practices, and, where appropriate, advertises
your data through metadata publication.
Students
will build FGDC-compliant metadata with ArcCatalog
tools and metadata extensions. A pre-defined
'starter' template, based on the student's
data set of interest will be imported and
updated to meet FGDC-baseline requirements
while producing a complete and useful metadata
document. In-line quality assessment will
provide immediate feedback for producing
a final XML document and publishable stylesheets
in XML format.
Metadata
maintenance and KCGIS posting and publishing
protocols will be described, as well as other
downstream enterprise products and future
development plans. A step-by-step workbook
with easy-to-follow visual guides and hints
will be provided as part of the class to
be used in an optional classroom exercise
in creating your own metadata. It will also
serve as a valuable take-home tool for additional
metadata creation or maintenance.
Audience
KCGIS
Metadata: Creation, Posting, Maintenance,
and Best Practices is for all King County
GIS data/metadata maintainers as well as
other database and data stewards. This class
is also open to members of the public as
the content, tools, and products comply with
industry and GIS community standards and
would be applicable to any organization interested
in building or improving the quality of their
data library through more complete and structured
documentation.
Goals
- Leave
class with complete, error-free, FGDC-compliant
metadata that has good user value.
- Gain
an understanding of key sections of the FGDC
standard (but, no worry, this is not a "walk-through" of
the standard).
- Learn
how to use ArcCatalog's metadata tools and
extensions to successfully import, synchronize
and quality-check your metadata.
- Export
your metadata to a standalone XML document
and publish your metadata to HTML format
using various stylesheets.
- View your metadata
as a living document tightly linked to the
maintenance of your data set.
Topics
Covered
- XML
metadata format and ArcCatalog Metadata Editor.
- National
Park Service Metadata Tool extension.
- Hints
on interpreting the FGDC standard and tips
in applying it in real life.
- How
to import and synchronize an XML metadata
template.
- Real
FGDC metadata content as examples to creating
your own.
- In-class
exercises to import, edit, QC and export
what you've created.
- How
to perform quality control/assessment on
your metadata.
- Tips
and ideas on maintaining your documentation
long-term.
- Creating
HTML stylesheet versions of your metadata
for publication.
Prerequisites
and Recommendations
To
obtain the greatest value from this class,
participants should provide a copy of an
ESRI shapefile data set that they wish to
document. This could be provided at registration
or a least a few days prior to the class.
Participants should also be sufficiently
knowledgeable about the data set to answer
questions about it during the metadata creation.
Narrative documentation, in electronic format,
can also be forwarded to the class instructor,
and will be made available to the student
during the class for inclusion into the XML
document.
Students
who cannot provide a shapefile of interest
are welcome to attend the class and work
on a sample data set and metadata template. |
