# Presentation: 243841

## Key Issues for Quality Data Management

- Anne Ball
- NOAA Coastal Services Center

## 	Outline

- Introduction
- Federal government initiatives
- National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)
- Data Quality Act (Section 515)
- Data management discussion
- General topics
- Metadata
- Sharing data via the NSDI
- Discussion
- Additional data management topics
- Application to COTS projects

##   Definitions and acronyms

- Data Quality Act
- Section 515 of the Treasury and General Government
-  Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 106-554)
- Metadata
- Documentation about data (who, what, when, where, why, and how)
- FGDC
- Federal Geographic Data Committee
- NSDI
- National Spatial Data Infrastructure

##   Additional information

- Data quality act – OMB web site
- www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/final_information_quality_guidelines.html
- Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)
- www.fgdc.gov
- National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)
- www.fgdc.gov/nsdi/nsdi.html
- Metadata
- www.csc.noaa.gov/metadata/

## Why should anyone care about data management?

- The collecting and processing of data requires the investment of significant resources.

- People
- Travel
- Software
- Hardware
- Equipment
- Instruments

- It is in our best interests to avoid duplication of data collection.

- Create means to locate previously collected data.
- Document data so it can be used for other purposes.

- Quality data management means data is:

- Available
- Organized
- Documented
- Searchable
- Secure

## Federal Initiatives

***Federal Initiatives***
***National Spatial Data Infrastructure***
***Data Quality Act***

## The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)

**The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)**

**In 1994, President Clinton created the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).  **

## Goals
Make geographic data easier to find and use
Reduce duplication of effort 
Improve quality of geographic information
Reduce costs

**Goals**
**Make geographic data easier to find and use**
**Reduce duplication of effort **
**Improve quality of geographic information**
**Reduce costs**

**The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)**

## The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) coordinates the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). 

**The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) coordinates the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). **

**The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)**

## Includes policies, standards, and procedures that help people produce and share geographic data. 

**Includes ****policies, standards, and procedures**** ****that help people produce and share geographic data. **

**The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)**

## Any organization who receives funds from the US government must comply with FGDC requirements. 

**The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)**

**Any organization who receives funds from the US government must comply with FGDC requirements. **

## Applicable standards include:

**The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)**

**Applicable standards include:**
**FGDC metadata standard**
**Positional accuracy standard**

## Quality

**Ensuring and maximizing the**
***Quality***
***Objectivity***
***Utility***
***Integrity***
**of information disseminated by Federal agencies**

**Data Quality Act**

## Includes data and information collected under contracts and grants.

**Includes data and information collected under contracts and grants.**

**Data Quality Act**

## Agency responsibilities

**Agency responsibilities**
**Issue own information quality guidelines**
**Establish mechanisms for affected persons to obtain correction of information**
**Report to OMB on complaints**
**Effective October 1, 2002**

**Data Quality Act**

## Data Quality Act

**NOAA’s information quality guidelines available for public comment through June 30, 2002 on NOAA Web site (www.noaa.gov)**

**Data Quality Act**

## The FGDC metadata standard may help fulfill the requirements of the Data Quality Act by providing a way to document the appropriate uses of data and their quality.

**The FGDC metadata standard may help fulfill the requirements of the Data Quality Act by providing a way to document the appropriate uses of data and their quality.**

**Data Quality Act**

## Data Management Discussion

- Collecting, acquiring, and processing
- Organizing, storing, and maintaining
- Accessing, sharing, and publishing
- Protecting
- Quality assurance (Data Quality Act)
- Metadata (NSDI)
- Organization specific

## Data Management Discussion

- Collecting, acquiring, and processing
- Organizing, storing, and maintaining
- Accessing, sharing, and publishing
- Protecting
- Quality assurance (Data Quality Act)
- Metadata (NSDI)
- Organization specific

##    Follow standards (if available)

-    Follow standards (if available)
-        Document quality of data including:
- 	    **Positional accuracy**
- 	         Geographic location and how determined
- 	     	**Accuracy and precision of value**
- 		     Instrument, calibration, etc.
- 			**Field conditions**
- 			    Weather, environmental factors, etc.

**Collecting data in the field**

**Notes:**
The benefits of metadata for you as a data user:
Metadata facilitates understanding. Metadata gives you as a data user a quick overview of the data, so that you can make a reasonable judgment about whether the data you find fills you needs.
It helps you easily focus on the key elements of the data and not get bogged down in unnecessary detail. Because it follows a standardized layout and has common terms and definitions, it allows you to knowledgeably skim records quickly and easily. You can more accurately focus on what you’re looking for.
Metadata helps you to enable discovery — both inside and outside your organization. Because metadata is standardized, it enables data discovery and access through web-based resources. These resources can be as simple as a list of hyper-text links that you can browse, to html versions of the metadata, to queries that you can make through clearinghouse gateways.
	This enhanced discovery and access has value for internal use in your organization. Within a county government, for instance, the Planning Department can succinctly list descriptions of their spatial data for use by others within county government (such as the Assessors Office, Utilities, Public Works, and Law Enforcement). You can access the data through Intranet-based resources.
	Similarly, enhanced discovery and access can be provided to those who are outside the government for those appropriate data sets through the state, regional, and national NSDI Clearinghouse Nodes.

##    Ask for metadata so you will have all the 	appropriate information on how and where the 	data was collected, processed, quality, etc.

-    **Ask for metadata** so you will have all the 	appropriate information on how and where the 	data was collected, processed, quality, etc.
- 	**Add to the metadata** information on who 			you got the data from, constraints 			on sharing, using etc.

**Acquiring data from someone else**

**Notes:**
The benefits of metadata for you as a data user:
Metadata facilitates understanding. Metadata gives you as a data user a quick overview of the data, so that you can make a reasonable judgment about whether the data you find fills you needs.
It helps you easily focus on the key elements of the data and not get bogged down in unnecessary detail. Because it follows a standardized layout and has common terms and definitions, it allows you to knowledgeably skim records quickly and easily. You can more accurately focus on what you’re looking for.
Metadata helps you to enable discovery — both inside and outside your organization. Because metadata is standardized, it enables data discovery and access through web-based resources. These resources can be as simple as a list of hyper-text links that you can browse, to html versions of the metadata, to queries that you can make through clearinghouse gateways.
	This enhanced discovery and access has value for internal use in your organization. Within a county government, for instance, the Planning Department can succinctly list descriptions of their spatial data for use by others within county government (such as the Assessors Office, Utilities, Public Works, and Law Enforcement). You can access the data through Intranet-based resources.
	Similarly, enhanced discovery and access can be provided to those who are outside the government for those appropriate data sets through the state, regional, and national NSDI Clearinghouse Nodes.

## Processing data

- Document how data was processed:
- Models, algorithms used
- Quality of results
- Make sure results are reproducible

## Data Management Topics

- Collecting, acquiring, and processing
- Organizing, storing, and maintaining
- Accessing, sharing, and publishing
- Protecting
- Quality assurance (Data Quality Act)
- Metadata (NSDI)
- Organization specific

## Organizing, storing, and managing data

**Some initial questions to ask:**
- What data do you have now?
- Will you be adding more data?
- What types of data need to be managed?
- Raw and/or original data
- Processed data
- Data formats used (images, maps, time series, tabular, etc.)

**Organizing, storing, and managing data**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## Organizing, storing, and managing data

**Some initial questions to ask:**
- How will you input and store metadata?
- What additional materials should be included (station descriptions, bibliographies, publications, memos, etc.)?
- What else needs to be included?

**Organizing, storing, and managing data**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## Organizing, storing, and managing data

**Select a data management system that fits the scope of your project(s)**
- Databases:
- Larger amounts of data
- Need for complex searches
- Requires special software and expertise
- File systems:
- Smaller amounts of data
- Limited searches
- No special software or expertise

**Organizing, storing, and managing data**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## Organizing, storing, and managing data

**Additional considerations**
- Use standards for data and file formats whenever 	possible
- Use descriptive names for files, tables, column 	headings, etc.
- Might have different needs for original versus 	processed data

**Organizing, storing, and managing data**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## Organizing, storing, and managing data

**Additional considerations**
- Don’t forget to include metadata!
- Link metadata to data and always keep together

**Organizing, storing, and managing data**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## Data Management Topics

- Collecting, acquiring, and processing
- Organizing, storing, and maintaining
- Accessing, sharing, and publishing
- Protecting
- Quality assurance (Data Quality Act)
- Metadata (NSDI)
- Organization specific

## Accessing, sharing, and publishing

-    Sharing and locating data within your organization
-        More to come
- 		Metadata
- 		Sharing via the NSDI

**Accessing, sharing, and publishing**

**Notes:**
The benefits of metadata for you as a data user:
Metadata facilitates understanding. Metadata gives you as a data user a quick overview of the data, so that you can make a reasonable judgment about whether the data you find fills you needs.
It helps you easily focus on the key elements of the data and not get bogged down in unnecessary detail. Because it follows a standardized layout and has common terms and definitions, it allows you to knowledgeably skim records quickly and easily. You can more accurately focus on what you’re looking for.
Metadata helps you to enable discovery — both inside and outside your organization. Because metadata is standardized, it enables data discovery and access through web-based resources. These resources can be as simple as a list of hyper-text links that you can browse, to html versions of the metadata, to queries that you can make through clearinghouse gateways.
	This enhanced discovery and access has value for internal use in your organization. Within a county government, for instance, the Planning Department can succinctly list descriptions of their spatial data for use by others within county government (such as the Assessors Office, Utilities, Public Works, and Law Enforcement). You can access the data through Intranet-based resources.
	Similarly, enhanced discovery and access can be provided to those who are outside the government for those appropriate data sets through the state, regional, and national NSDI Clearinghouse Nodes.

## Data Management Topics

- Collecting, acquiring, and processing
- Organizing, storing, and maintaining
- Accessing, sharing, and publishing
- Protecting
- Quality assurance (Data Quality Act)
- Metadata (NSDI)
- Organization specific

##  Protecting data

- Security software, firewalls, etc.
- Select appropriate security measures
- Consider cost to reconstruct vs. cost of software and expertise required

** ****Protecting data**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

##  Protecting data

- Backups, backups, backups!
- Offsite storage
- Test media regularly
- Test backup retrieval regularly

** ****Protecting data**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

##  Protecting data

- Regular reviews
- Is metadata up to date?
- Has more data been added?
- Are you using a different model, algorithm?
- Do you need to make any changes?

** ****Protecting data**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

##  Protecting data

- Archive for the long term
- Update storage media regularly
- Make available to a broad user community
- Make use of NOAA National Data Centers

** ****Protecting data**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## Data Management Topics

- Collecting, acquiring, and processing
- Organizing, storing, and maintaining
- Accessing, sharing, and publishing
- Protecting
- Quality assurance (Data Quality Act)
- Metadata (NSDI)
- Organization specific

## Organization specific

- Continuous changes in personnel (students)
- Requirements of parent organizations
- Other issues????

## Metadata

## Metadata Topics

- What is metadata?
- What is it used for?
- What decisions need to be made?
- When should metadata be written?
- What is good metadata?
- Why use a metadata standard?
- Why use a clearinghouse standard?
- What about the Data Quality Act (Sec. 515)?

## What is metadata?

**What is metadata?**

- Information about the characteristics of data.
- The who, what, when, where, why,
- and how of data.
- The component of data that describes it.

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## What is metadata?

**What is metadata?**

_**Examples**_
- Map legend
- Food label
- Library catalog card
- Note on back of photo

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## What is metadata?

**What is metadata?**

_**Example of Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata**_

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## What is it used for?

**What is it used for?**

- Protecting and documenting existing data
- What the organization needs to know and remember
- 	Sharing or reusing data
- 	   What the user needs to know
-    	 	Organizing data and suites of data
-            	Finding data
- 	          		Determining if data have already 				been collected by someone else

## What is it used for?

- To remember how data were collected and/or 	processed
- 	Keep data useful when staff members leave
- 		Reduce costs
- 		     Facilitate sharing of data
- 			    Reduce liability

**What is it used for?**

**Notes:**
The benefits of metadata for you as a data user:
Metadata facilitates understanding. Metadata gives you as a data user a quick overview of the data, so that you can make a reasonable judgment about whether the data you find fills you needs.
It helps you easily focus on the key elements of the data and not get bogged down in unnecessary detail. Because it follows a standardized layout and has common terms and definitions, it allows you to knowledgeably skim records quickly and easily. You can more accurately focus on what you’re looking for.
Metadata helps you to enable discovery — both inside and outside your organization. Because metadata is standardized, it enables data discovery and access through web-based resources. These resources can be as simple as a list of hyper-text links that you can browse, to html versions of the metadata, to queries that you can make through clearinghouse gateways.
	This enhanced discovery and access has value for internal use in your organization. Within a county government, for instance, the Planning Department can succinctly list descriptions of their spatial data for use by others within county government (such as the Assessors Office, Utilities, Public Works, and Law Enforcement). You can access the data through Intranet-based resources.
	Similarly, enhanced discovery and access can be provided to those who are outside the government for those appropriate data sets through the state, regional, and national NSDI Clearinghouse Nodes.

## What is it used for?

- To locate data
-    Determine if data are suitable for needs
- 	Understand data and how to use them

**What is it used for?**

**Notes:**
The benefits of metadata for you as a data user:
Metadata facilitates understanding. Metadata gives you as a data user a quick overview of the data, so that you can make a reasonable judgment about whether the data you find fills you needs.
It helps you easily focus on the key elements of the data and not get bogged down in unnecessary detail. Because it follows a standardized layout and has common terms and definitions, it allows you to knowledgeably skim records quickly and easily. You can more accurately focus on what you’re looking for.
Metadata helps you to enable discovery — both inside and outside your organization. Because metadata is standardized, it enables data discovery and access through web-based resources. These resources can be as simple as a list of hyper-text links that you can browse, to html versions of the metadata, to queries that you can make through clearinghouse gateways.
	This enhanced discovery and access has value for internal use in your organization. Within a county government, for instance, the Planning Department can succinctly list descriptions of their spatial data for use by others within county government (such as the Assessors Office, Utilities, Public Works, and Law Enforcement). You can access the data through Intranet-based resources.
	Similarly, enhanced discovery and access can be provided to those who are outside the government for those appropriate data sets through the state, regional, and national NSDI Clearinghouse Nodes.

## What is it used for?

**          ****Author(s)**   Boullosa, Carmen.
**              ****Title(s)**   They're cows, we're pigs /
-                              by Carmen Boullosa
-                 **Place**    New York : Grove Press, 1997.
-  **Physical Descr**   viii, 180 p ; 22 cm.
-          **Subject(s)**   Pirates Caribbean Area Fiction.
**             ****Format**    Fiction

- Libraries use metadata to ***organize ***collections and help users ***locate*** items.

**What is it used for?**

**Notes:**
Perhaps the best and most recognizable form of metadata is the card catalog system at the library. Each book in the library has information associated with it that tells certain things about the book, such as:
 the title of the book and perhaps a brief description
 who the author is
 when it was published
 who published it
 how many pages
 where it can be found
 what format it is in
Note that the card catalog entry does not speak to the quality of the book.

## What decisions need to be made?

**What decisions need to be made?**

- Givens:
- There’s no extra money to do it, so it should be considered part of daily work.
- It’s usually hard the first time.  After that it gets easier.
- It’s easier and takes less time if you do it as you go rather than all at the end.

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## What decisions need to be made?

- How detailed should your records be?
- Metadata lite vs. full records
- Sophisticated vs. “newbie” user
- How do you define a data set?
- One record for entire suite vs. one record per item in suite
- What should you do with legacy data?
- Who should write the metadata?
- Person responsible for collecting or processing data vs. “graduate student”

## When should metadata be written?

- As data are collected:
- Where? How? What instrument? Who collected it?  Why? Quality issues?...
- When you get data from someone else:
- Who originally collected the data? Any constraints on use? Who do I contact with questions?...

**When should metadata be written?**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## When should metadata be written?

- As you process data:
- What algorithm was used?  Were data corrected?  What is the quality?  Who processed the data?  Who should be contacted for questions? ...

**When should metadata be written?**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## When should metadata be written?

- As you make data available:
- Contact point?  How can data be downloaded?  How can they be ordered?  How much do the data cost?  Any constraints on use?  Where are the data located? ...

**When should metadata be written?**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## When should metadata be written?

- At regular intervals:
- Is additional data now available?  Is it being measured or processed differently? ...
- Whenever address/contact information changes:
- What has changed?  New data added? New methods available?  New contact? ...

**When should metadata be written?**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## When should metadata be written?

- When data sets are archived:
- 	Storage media?
- 	Contact point?
- 	Ordering information?
- 	Questions?

**When should metadata be written?**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## When should metadata be written?

**1980**
- HEW
- Teheran
- British Honduras
- Snow measurement
- Arpanet
- I95
- I495
- Mt. St. Helen
- Cape Hatteras Light
- West Germany

**2000**
- HHS & HUD
- Tehran
- Belize
- Snow measurement
- Internet
- I395
- I95
- Mt. St. Helen
- Cape Hatteras Light
- Germany

- When information changes:

## Metadata

**When should metadata be written?**

- When the “corporate” knowledge changes

- Data

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## When should metadata be written?

- Throughout the life of the data because even the familiar can be forgotten.
- _Exercise_
- Without looking at your watch
- Who is the manufacturer?
- How are the hours marked (ie numbers, Roman numerals, dots, lines)?
- What color is the secondhand?

**When should metadata be written?**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## Good metadata describes all the properties of the data.

**What is good metadata?**

**Data**

**Metadata**

**Notes:**
Most often, metadata is described as “data about data.” 
Metadata captures information about a data set or data product that describes certain characteristics of that data. It allows others to make certain determinations about its potential uses. It does not reproduce the data. It describes the data.

## Without high-quality metadata, these data might not be useful.

- Where?

- What?

- When?

**What is good metadata?**

**Notes:**
Without proper documentation, no data set is complete.
Documentation serves several functions:
Metadata records important information about how the data were collected and processed.
Like information in a library’s card catalog, metadata is frequently used as a record in search systems so that users can find data sets they’re interested in.
In the future, analytic tools will assess metadata to determine whether one data set can be properly compared or processed with another.
If we invest in thorough data documentation now, the investment can pay for itself through:
Increased longevity of the data,
A greater ability to share our data,
Decreased user support requirements,
And, in extreme cases, the avoidance of litigation related to data misuse or copyright violations.
Metadata standards will increase the value of data by facilitating data sharing through time and space.

## Good metadata includes instructions on how to use the data.

- # ################################################################################### # B050F03 Station: BJT B050F16 Network: IC B052F03 Location: 00 B052F04 Channel: BHZ B052F22 Start date: 1999,041,00:00:00 B052F23 End date: 2599,365,23:59:59 # # +-----------------------------------+ # | Response (Poles and Zeros) | # | IC BJT 00 BHZ | # | 02/10/1999 to 12/31/2599 | # +-----------------------------------+ # B053F03 Transfer function type: A B053F04 Stage sequence number: 1 B053F05 Response in units lookup: M/S - Velocity in Meters Per Second B053F06 Response out units lookup: V - Volts B053F07 AO normalization factor: +3.94858E+03 B053F08 Normalization frequency: +2.00000E-02 B053F09 Number of zeroes: 2

**What is good metadata?**

**Notes:**
Metadata is a critical component of a complete data set.
Metadata is simply descriptive information applied to a digital geospatial file.
Without accompanying metadata, the fitness for use of any given data set is unknown, and its usefulness is significantly impaired.
Metadata is created and maintained as an integrated part of the data creation process — instead of something that might get done at end of project, if time allows.

## Who
Who collected the data?
Who processed the data?
Who wrote the metadata?
Who to contact for questions?
Who to contact to order?
Who owns the data?

What
What are the data about?
What project were they collected under?
What are the constraints on their use?
What is the quality?
What are appropriate uses?
What parameters were measured?
What format are the data in?

When
When were the data collected?
When were the data processed?

- Who collected the data?
- Who processed the data?
- Who wrote the metadata?
- Who to contact for questions?
- Who to contact to order?
- Who owns the data?
**What**
- What are the data about?
- What project were they collected under?
- What are the constraints on their use?
- What is the quality?
- What are appropriate uses?
- What parameters were measured?
- What format are the data in?
**When**
- When were the data collected?
- When were the data processed?

**Where**
- Where were the data collected?
- Where were the data processed?
- Where are the data located?
**How**
- How were the data collected?
- How were the data processed?
- How do I access the data?
- How do I order the data?
- How much does the data cost?
- How was the quality assessed?
**Why**
- Why were the data collected?

**What is good metadata?**

## What is good metadata?

- Metadata links users to the data.
- On-line linkage
- Custom order process
- Ordering instructions
- Network resource name
- Distributor contact information
- Supplemental information (free text)

**What is good metadata?**

## Metadata links to data

- Link to an order form
- Link to a data file that can be downloaded
- Link to a database
- Dynamic URL that performs a search

**What is good metadata?**

## Everyone uses the same

Names

Definitions

    Format

Structure 	

- Everyone uses the same
- Names
- Definitions
-     Format
- Structure

**Why use a metadata standard?**

- Process_Step:  Data was filtered
-                          corrected for ....
-     Process_Date:  04212001
-     Process_Contact:  Dr. Smith

- Format for date is
- MMDDYYYY

## Why use a metadata standard?

- Makes it easier to
-  Share data
-      Build systems
-           Locate data
-                Understand data

**Why use a metadata standard?**

**Notes:**
The Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM)
The standard gives us uniformity, but also includes flexibility to fit your own circumstances. 
As of June 1998, the FGDC officially adopted the final version of the standard. The current effort which is underway is to synchronize with the ISO standard under development.
The metadata standard is not perfect, of course. Suggestions for revision will be made over the next few years, but the current standard is official. Revisions to this standard will be considered through the formal standards process.
If you are working on a Federal project, the standard will help you comply with Executive Order 12906 on Coordinating Geographic Data Acquisition and Access: The National Spatial Data Infrastructure. 
It is fundamental for everyone using the FGDC National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse to describe their data sufficiently so that others can determine its:
availability, 
fitness for use, 
accessibility, and 
transferability -- information which the metadata standard provides. 
If you are creating geospatial data or documenting existing data, whether you are in a university or state agency or business or interest group, this standard is the one to implement. 
The faster we all implement the standard and the FGDC Clearinghouse, the easier it will be to share data. 
It will take time to fully apply the standard, and there will be difficulties in getting people trained and enhancing software so metadata is easier to define at the time a data set is first created. It’s okay if your initial application of the standard is less than perfect. Recognize that gradual implementation of the standard will be normal in many organizations.

## Why use a metadata standard?

- Metadata profiles and extensions:

- Approved:
-   Biological data
-   Shoreline data
- Under development:
-   Cultural and demographic data
-   Remote sensing

**Why use a metadata standard?**

**Notes:**
How many of you have photos at home with little or no information on the back to help you remember key things about the photo, such as date, place, and subject? Maybe you remember, but will anyone else who happens to have possession of that photo in the future? That photo is an example of a type of data, and the information you include about that photo is essentially a type of metadata. For this example, metadata provides legacy information that will help describe the photo for others. Without it, it’s just another pretty picture.

## Sharing data via the NSDI

**Notes:**
Metadata is a critical component of a complete data set.
Metadata is simply descriptive information applied to a digital geospatial file.
Without accompanying metadata, the fitness for use of any given data set is unknown, and its usefulness is significantly impaired.
Metadata is created and maintained as an integrated part of the data creation process — instead of something that might get done at end of project, if time allows.

##   Why use a Clearinghouse standard?

- To make it easy to share metadata
- To make it easy to build catalogs of metadata
- So one server may be accessed by many projects

##   Why use a Clearinghouse standard?

- FGDC Clearinghouse Architecture
- System of geographically distributed metadata servers
- Easy to install and support (like Web server software)
- Works off text files
- Can use free or purchased software
- Uses standard computer query and retrieval protocol
- Same protocol as used in libraries

##   The Z39.50 protocol

- ISO and ANSII information retrieval standard
- Defines protocol for computer-to-computer information query and retrieval
- Oversight by Library of Congress (_[www.loc.gov/z3950/agency/](http://www.loc.gov/z3950/agency/)__)_
- Maps standard field names (ex. MARC to FGDC)
- Available searches:
- Full-text
- Fielded (using XML or HTML style labels)
- Software available for purchase and open-source

## FGDC Clearinghouse architecture

**  ****Why use a Clearinghouse standard?**

## Makes it easy to build new interfaces

**  ****Why use a Clearinghouse standard?**

##   Build multiple interfaces

- User can select interface
- User can select best interface for their needs
- Data provider can belong to many “interfaces”
- Data provider can provide best interface to their data

## Discussion

- Additional data management topics
- Application to COTS projects

**Notes:**
Metadata is a critical component of a complete data set.
Metadata is simply descriptive information applied to a digital geospatial file.
Without accompanying metadata, the fitness for use of any given data set is unknown, and its usefulness is significantly impaired.
Metadata is created and maintained as an integrated part of the data creation process — instead of something that might get done at end of project, if time allows.