Introduction to Geospatial Metadata – FGDC CSDGM

1. Introduction to Geospatial Metadata – FGDC CSDGM National Coastal Data Development Center A division of the National Oceanographic Data Center Please email a list of participants at each location to ncddcmetadata@noaa.gov Also Email questions for the Q&A session to ncddcmetadata@noaa.gov

2. CSDGM Resources Series Materials: ftp://ftp.ncddc.noaa.gov/pub/Metadata/Online_ISO_Training/Intro_to_CSDGM/ CSDGM Geospatial Metadata Standards: http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/geospatial-metadata-standards#csdgm

3. FGDC Authored Metadata Standards The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) was organized in 1990 under the Office of Management and Budget to promote the coordinated use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data on a national basis. The FGDC was tasked with creating a metadata standard to meet these objectives.

4. The Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) "... each agency shall document all new geospatial data it collects or produces, either directly or indirectly, using the standard under development by the FGDC, and make that standardized documentation electronically accessible to the Clearinghouse network." Executive Order 12906, signed by President Clinton in 1994.

5. This “Content Standard” serves as a uniform summary description of the data set. Establishing a Standard

6. Establishing the Standard The Content Standard… Establishes names of compound elements and data elements Defines the information about the values that are to be provided for the data elements Citation Domain=Real attribute currentness entity lineage Type=“free text”

7. Establishing a Standard The Content Standard utilizes... Common terms Common definition Common language Common structure Process step Access constraints entity currentness domain attribute Citation lineage

8. Who Who collected the data? Who processed the data? Who wrote the metadata? Who to contact for questions? Who to contact to order? Who owns the data? Metadata written using the Content Standard answers these important questions: Where Where were the data collected? Where were the data processed? Where are the data located? When When were the data collected? When were the data processed? What What are the data about? What project were they collected under? What are the constraints on their use? What is the quality? What are appropriate uses? What parameters were measured? What format are the data in? How How were the data collected? How were the data processed? How do I access the data? How do I order the data? How much do the data cost? How was the quality assessed? Why Why were the data collected?

9. The FGDC StandardOrganization and Content

10. The CSDSGM StandardOrganization and Content

11. Production Rules of the Content Standard

12. The CSDGM Workbook –Organization and Content • Parallels the Standard • Defines 334 available metadata elements

13. Using the Workbook • It is a resource for applying the FGDC Content Standards • Provides section and element definitions • Describes domain values • Valid values that can be assigned • Uses a Graphical Representation of the Production Rules

14. Using the Graphical Representation The Workbook uses graphics to illustrate the production rules of the standard. • How elements are grouped • What is mandatory and what is not • What elements can repeat and how many times they can repeat The graphics include most of the information provided by the production rules:

15. Using the Graphical Representation Section Compound elements are depicted using a 2-dimensional box Compound Element Data Element Sections are depicted by this symbol Data elements are depicted using a 3-dimensional box with shadow

16. Using the Graphical Representation Compound Element A compound element is group of data elements or other compound elements. The form for the definition of a compound element is: Compound element name -- definition. Type: compound An example of a definition of a compound element is: Description - characterization of the data set, including its intended use and limitations Type: compound

17. Using the Graphical Representation Data Element A data element is a logically primitive item of data. Data elements are the things that you “fill in.” The form for the definition of a data element is: Data element name -- definition. Type: (choice of “integer”, “real”, “text”, “date”, or “time”) Domain: (describes valid values that can be assigned) An example of the definition of a data element is: Abstract – a brief narrative of the data set. Type: text Domain: free text

18. Using the Graphical Representation Mandatory if Applicable - must be provided if the data set exhibits the defined characteristic. Optional - provided at the discretion of the data set producer. What’s Mandatory? What’s Not? Compound Element Mandatory - must be provided.

19. Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata Metadata 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Identification Information Spatial Reference Information Entity and Attribute Information Distribution Information Metadata Reference Information Data Quality Information Spatial Data Organization Information Legend Mandatory Mandatory If Applicable

27. Section 8 Section 9 Section 10 Citation Information Time Period Information Contact Information M M / A O

28. Exercise 1: Getting Familiar with the CSDGM