Metadata Flashcards
Lecture 10
What is meta-data?
tells you more about spatial and attribute components.
What questions does metadata answer?
- What does the dataset describe?
- Who produced the dataset?
- Why was the dataset created?
- How was the dataset created?
- When was the dataset created?
- How reliable is the data (scale?); what problems remain in the
dataset? - How can someone get a copy of the dataset?
It is highly descriptive.
Why do we use metadata?
- File Systems are getting bigger
- Data sets are larger
- File counts have increased
- People forget/Record keeping
What are the advantages of metadata?
▪ Enables data exchange
▪ Efficient use of (existing) resources
▪ Building productivity
▪ Enhancing data quality (data standards)
▪ Cost saving on business activities
▪ Reduce the redundancies\duplication
▪ Re-sell value
How did metadata develop?
- Initially no agreement on how to document data sets
- Each person or agency documented data in a different way
- Consequence of this = Inefficiencies and duplication
- 1990’s USA - Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)
produced the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial
Metadata (CSDGM) bill on metadata. - 2003 - International Standards Organization (ISO) developed
and approved ISO 19115– Geographic Information
Metadata (https://www.iso.org/home.html) - ISO 19115– also used in South Africa
What are the mandatroy elements of metadata?
- Dataset title
- Dataset reference date
- Dataset language
- Dataset topic category
- Abstract/Summary
- Point of contact
- Date Stamp
What are the conditional elements of metadata?
- Responsible party
- Geographic location
- Spatial resolution
- Distribution format
- Reference system
What kinds of metadata re there?
- Descriptive metadata
- Structural metadata
- Administrative metadata
How is the type of metadata determined?
determined by the nature of
the metadata (i.e. its type/what it is trying to
communicate)
What is descriptive metadata?
describes a resource for purposses such as discovery and identification. It can inlcude elements such as title, abstract, author and keywords.
What is structural metadata?
metadata about containers of metadata and indicates how compound objects are put together, eg. how pages are odered to form chapters.
What is adminstrative metadata?
information to help manage a resource such as when and how it was created, file type and other technical information and who can access it.
What is the metadata shapefile?
.xml
