I'm very excited about metadata happenings in the GIS world. There are many new improvements for metadata collection in the new ArcInfo Release 8. There has also been a substantial improvement in several of the other available metadata tools, such as Enabling Technology metadata tool. As in previous years, the metadata committee members seem to be very busy in there own offices.
People seem to be making short stabs into the metadata beast from time to time through out the year.
The overwhelming report from many of you is that you're waiting for new tools to help make metadata collection easier. Data users who access the site will be able to read or download the metadata. The City of Boise is still in the consideration stage of choosing a metadata medium and product. We have discussed the issue but have no specific plans for acquisition of a product. We are working harder on metadata, and have even hired someone to work on it specifically.