Geoinformation metadata in INSPIRE and SDI : understanding editing publishing The book is a new comprehensive textbook about creating and publishing geoinformation metadata. It is a compendium of knowledge about geoinformation metadata in INSPIRE Directive and Spatial Information Infrastructures. It contains the knowledge necessary to understand prior to the creation of geoinformation metadata. Metadata data about data describe the layers of spatial data (data series services) responding to the questions: what why when who how and where Geoinformation metadata allow for exact search of the spatial data according to given criteria regardless of where those data are located. On 15 May 2007 the EU Directive 2007 2 EC came into force establishing Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe INSPIRE. The proper functioning of the infrastructure for spatial information would not be possible without the metadata.