U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
FS-2004-3107

Beginning in 1995 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) funded scientific research to support the restoration of the Greater Everglades area and to supply decision makers and resource managers with sound data on which to base their actions. However, none of the research and resulting data is useful if it can't be discovered, can't be assessed for utility in an application, can't be accessed, or is in an undetermined format. The decision was made early in the USGS Place-Based Studies (PBS) program to create a "one-stop" entry for information and data about USGS research results. To facilitate the discovery process some mechanism was needed to allow standardized queries about data. The FGDC metadata standard has been used to document the South Florida PBS data from the beginning.

A survey of project chiefs in 1996 showed that most felt metadata are important to their work and in assessing other data for use. However, the great majority of them replied that they had no money or personnel allocated to creating the metadata. Thus the metadata portion of SOFIA was created and funded to aid the scientists in fulfilling the requirement for FGDC-compliant metadata.

Figure 1: SMMS input screen [larger image]

Figure 2: XML input template screen [larger image]

Figure 3: ArcCatalog screen [larger image]

At present all FY 2004 funded projects have current metadata and over 100 data sets have been documented.

The formats used for SOFIA metadata records are html, text, and xml. A variation on the html format is called Question and Answer format. This format extracts information from the FGDC metadata format and answers a series of questions. This format is also referred to as "metadata in plain language".

Examples of the various formats are shown in figures 4 through 7.

Figure 4: FGDC html format [larger image]		Figure 5: Question and Answer format [larger image]

Figure 6: ASCII text format [larger image]		Figure 7: XML format [larger image]

MP, metadata parser program, has the ability through the use of a configuration file to link the various formats so that a user can go from one to another using the links at the top of the record.

Figure 8: Example of the top of a metadata record showing the links (highlighted in yellow) [larger image]

1. There are only two required sections in the FGDC minimal metadata record; however information in the other five sections make the data more useful.

2. Much of the information used to populate the metadata record exists in the form of yearly work plans, progress summaries, papers, posters, and other publications.

3. Metadata is not really difficult and there are SOFIA project personnel available to create the metadata and to make any necessary changes.

4. Good metadata makes your data useful to others even if you move on to other projects or organizations.

Figure 9: Diagram of metadata record creation and revision. (The process is the same for revising metadata starting with the existing metadata record.) Description of diagram

Information on XTME, TKME, cns, and mp can be found at geology.usgs.gov/tools/metadata/.

XMLInput software is available for download at ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/cr/mo/rolla/release/xmlinput/.

An explanation of Metadata in plain language can be found at geology.usgs.gov/tools/metadata/tools/doc/ctc/.

The FGDC metadata standard is available at www.fgdc.gov/metadata/contstan.html (see http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/geospatial-metadata-standards).

Information on SMMS is available at www.intergraph.com/gis/smms/.

SOFIA wants the metadata for your data sofia.usgs.gov/metadata/

For information on other USGS products and services, call 1-888-ASK-USGS, or visit the USGS Geography Products Web site at erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/pubslists/.

For additional information, visit the ask.usgs.gov Web site or the USGS home page at www.usgs.gov.

* Any use of trade, product, or firm name is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.