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Metadata 101 a two minute introduction to metadata

Metadata is simply documentation for a digital geospatial dataset. It is a text document that describes the who, what, when, where, why and how questions about the data, so that a potential data user can decide whether or not the data is appropriate for his/her use.

More specifically, Metadata in Plain English uses these questions to describe a dataset:

• What does the dataset describe and what area does it cover?
• Who produced the dataset?
• Why was the dataset created - for what purpose, based on what requirements/specifications?
• How was the dataset created - what sources where used and what procedures?
• Where can I get a copy of the dataset and in what format?
• How do I use the dataset when I get a copy of it?

These questions roughly correspond to the seven main sections of a metadata document:

• Identification Information: description, purpose, creator of the dataset and the area and time period it covers
• Data Quality Information: sources, processes, accuracy statements
• Spatial Organization Information: the data model used (internal structure of the data)
• Spatial Reference Information: coordinate system, projection and datum
• Entity and Attribute Information: details on what the dataset describes
• Distribution Information: where/how to get the dataset
• Metadata Reference Information: who wrote the metadata

Is metadata really that important?

It is VERY important.
You shouldn't be using data unless you can answer the basic who, what, when, where, why and how questions about it. It is so important, that the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) funded us to create an elaborate metadata education materials web-site. This web-site includes basic topics such as:

• What is metadata
• Why is metadata important
• Good and bad examples of metadata
• Using and implementing metadata
• Strategies for integrating metadata education into GIS-related courses and workshops

From our own experiences here at the Spatial Data and Visualization Center, we've put together an on-line slide show called Metadata for the Rest of Us that is a light-hearted "lessons learned" of metadata implementation.