Metadata Education Project

This page is under construction

Metadata education strategies
organized by learning outcome

Background information on learning outcomes

Conviction

Conviction of effectiveness of metadata: how it can improve quality and/or quantity of product, process or project

Recommended topics: Suggested topics:
  • Data sources
    • Metadata is a great way to find data
  • Data quality
    • Always question data: garbage in = garbage out
  • Ethics/legal issues
    • Are data producers liable if data is misused? Some data documentation is better than none!
  • Decision making
    • Metadata is critical in the process of converting raw data into useable information for decision making
  • GIS implementation / GIS and society:
    • Metadata is an important element in translating GIS data from the GIS-specialist realm into a more accessible, understandable format for society in general

Motivation

Motivation to use metadata: an understanding of techniques for using it and where it is applicable

Recommended topics:
  • What is metadata?
  • Why is metadata important?
  • Clearinghouse concepts:
    • Awareness of resources available for finding data and evaluating it for use
  • Data sources:
    • Understanding how structured metadata helps "data mining" on the internet
    • Understanding that data comes in many different formats, from many different sources, and is developed many different ways: metadata is the key to evaluating its fitness for use based on these factors
  • Data quality:
    • Know ahead of time the error/uncertainty associated with data sets before investing time/money in using them or updating them
Suggested topics:

Motivation to implement metadata: who creates it, amount of time required to create it, necessary background knowledge to do a good job

Recommended topics:

Suggested topics:
  • GIS project design / implementation
    • Awareness that metadata plays a useful role in selecting appropriate data for a GIS project
    • Awareness that metadata provides important documentation in case project results are questioned
    • Awareness that metadata provides documentation for project or data revisions/additions >
    • Awareness of how metadata can facilitate data distribution/communication between different departments within an organization
    • Awareness of how metadata maintains data integrity through personnel changes
    • Awareness of how metadata provides a log of data updates/changes, to maintain data integrity within an organization
    • Awareness that metadata provides important documentation in case results of GIS use are questioned
  • Data quality:
    • Know ahead of time the error/uncertainty associated with data sets before investing time/money in using them or updating them
  • Spatial analysis:
    • Awareness that metadata can also document processes and procedures, not just data

General Skills

Ability to read metadata: knowing where to find specific information

Recommended topics:

Suggested topics:

  • Projections / Scale: where to find coordinate/projection information and source scale information in the metadata content standard
  • Data Types: where to find information about data organization, development procedures and other data characteristics in the metadata content standard
  • Database principles: where to find information about database entities and attributes in the metadata content standard
  • Data models: where to find information about data model used (vector or raster) and other information about data structure and organization in the metadata content standard
  • Data sources: Where to find information about fitness for use: sources, quality, and structure in the metadata content standard, and information related to data acquistion: format, standard order process, contacts, access and use constraints, liability
  • Data creation / automation: Where to find information about how data was created in the metadata content standard

Ability to use metadata search protocol to locate data

Ability to evaluate a data set's fitness-for-use using metadata

Advanced Skills

Ability to create metadata

Ability to format metadata for compliance to the standard

Ability to set up and maintain a data clearinghouse with metadata

Knowledge

Depth

  • Data Quality issues:
    • Knowledge of sources of error in spatial data
    • Knowledge of techniques for data quality assessment, both quantitative and qualitative
    • Awareness of difference between quality control and truth-in-labeling paradigms
    • Awareness of case examples where insufficient information about data quality resulted in inappropriate use or faulty analysis
    • Awareness of different types of accuracy (conceptual, spatial, temporal and thematic)
    • Awareness of techniques for handling error, such as feature-level metadata, and sensitivity analysis
    • Awareness of potential for software to automatically read metadata and communicate data quality visually to users/decision makers

    Breadth

    Experience

    Equates to skills plus knowledge; ability to find deficiencies or flaws in existing implementation; ability to adapt techniques to new or unique situations; ability to provide alterative strategies; ability to develop new applications and methods