# Presentation: 063390

## METADATA

- A Proposed Metadata Standard for Magnetic Observatories

- David Fischman
- WDC - NGDC
- XIIIth IAGA Workshop
- Golden, Colorado
- June 2008

- With thanks to WDC – Edinburgh, WDC – Kyoto
- USGS, and Poland

## Has This Happened To You?

## Look at what I found?

**Notes:**
Magnetogram Data w/o any metadata. Stored at National 
Archives, but had to throw away... Oct 2005.

## What is Metadata?

**Who** created the data?**  **
**What** is the content of the data?
**When** was it created?
**Where** is it geographically?
**How** was the data developed?
**Why** was the data developed?

- USGS Boulder Observatory

- Minute Data

- Year/Month/Day/Hour/Minute

- -105.24    49.86

- Fluxgate Magnetometer

- So we can meet in beautiful
-  Golden, Colorado

## Metadata Team Partnership

**Data**
**Provider**

**Direct**
**Users**

**Unknown**
**Users**

- Medical Research
- Bird Migration
- Outreach/Education
- Dissertation

**Notes:**
Metadata/Documentation team is comprised of a partnership between data providers, archives and users.

Most data providers have an established and ongoing relationship with the users. Data exchange requirements are understood by both parties (and the need for standard documentation is less imperative.)
Near/Real-time data stream
Data quality i.e. sum checks, data flags, etc are important for real-time users.
Documentation tends to not be standard, i.e. headers and complex details
Data archive provides data to unknown users
archived data
general, standard documentation 
Partnerships between the archive and data provider is needed to create high quality metadata. 

OAIS Mandatory Responsibility: Ensure that the information to be preserved is Independently Understandable to the Designated Community. In other words, the community should be able to understand the information without needing the assistance of the experts who produced the information.

## Metadata Team Partnership

- User communities should be able to understand the information without needing the assistance of the experts who produced the information.
- Metadata provides critical information for future generations.
- A metadata database provides flexibility for deliverables
- FGDC - US
- ISO - International

## Standard Metadata

- Provides a common set of terminology and definitions
- Enables usability of data for broad communities
- Enables communities to archive, search and access data easily
- Critical to preserving the understanding of data

**Notes:**
When data managers use standard documentation. It is creating an apples to apples comparison for data shoppers.  For instance, when users are comparing two documents it is easy for them to discover the title, distribution formats of multiple and disparate datasets. 

## Standard Metadata Helps...

- Data producers and providers to manage and **evaluate** data
- Data consumers to **discover**, **obtain** and **assess** data
- Enable computer based **interoperability**

- to

- _Metadata Standards_
- Metadata

- _Data Formats Standards_
- Data

- =

## WIKI Metadata Forum

- http://wiki.ceh.ac.uk/dashboard.action

##  Proposed Metadata Requirements

- _Identification_

- _Data_
- _Quality_

- _Entity_
- _And_
- _Attribute_

- _Distribution_

- _Metadata_
- _Reference_

- Basic information about the data.

- Quality assessment of the data.

- Information content.

- Responsible parties.

- How to obtain the data set.

## Metadata Entry

## Metadata Entry

## Metadata Entry

## Metadata Entry

## Metadata Entry

## Discovery Tools

- _[Google Earth](file:///google_earth/station_date.kml)_

## Questions?