Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource.
Metadata is often called data about data or information about information. The term metadata is used differently in different communities. Some use it to refer to machine understandable information, while others use it only for records that describe electronic resources. In the library environment, metadata is commonly used for any formal scheme of resource description, applying to any type of object, digital or non-digital. Traditional library cataloging is a form of metadata;
There are three main types of metadata:
- Descriptive metadata describes a resource for purposes such as discovery and identification. It can include elements such as title, abstract, author, and keywords.
- Structural metadata indicates how compound objects are put together, for example, how pages are ordered to form chapters.
- Administrative metadata provides information to help manage a resource, such as when and how it was created, file type and other technical information, and who can access it.
What Is Metadata Service?
A Metadata Service provides a forum for sharing metadata. If you’re looking for data, you might search or browse a Metadata Service to find what you need. Similarly, if you have data that you want to share with others, you can do so by publishing it to a Metadata Service where others can see it.
Example:
Finding data
Suppose you’re creating a map for a presentation and you need some basemap data to display behind the data you’ve collected about your study area. Many organizations collect geographic information and build datasets. Some organizations freely distribute their data while others may charge a small fee. The question is, how do you find that data?
Think of a Metadata Service as a geographic search engine that you use when you want to find data and other resources. A Metadata Service works over the Internet or intranet, allowing anyone who has access to the Web to use it. The Geography Network is just one place you can go to look for data. Just as you can use different Internet search engines such as Yahoo!®, you can also search different Metadata Services hosted by other organizations. If you know the Web address of those Metadata Services, you can easily search their contents for geographic data.
When you search for data on a Metadata Service, your search will yield a list of resources that match your search criteria. You can view the complete metadata for each one to see if it’s what you’re looking for and can sometimes view an interactive map. Once you find a suitable dataset, you can download it or, in some instances, use it right from the Web.
Sharing data
If your organization is like most, you’ve invested a great deal of time and money collecting the data from which you’ve built your geographic database. Often, the people who build databases aren’t the same people who need to use them. So, how do you share your data with others who need it? Depending on who needs access to your data, there are several approaches.
Share your data on the Geography Network—The Geography Network is a good place to start. If the data you collect is not restricted to internal use and can be shared—either freely or for a fee—you can publish it to the Geography Network. Simply browse to www.geographynetwork.com and follow the link that allows you to become a publisher on the Geography Network. Once you’ve published your metadata, anyone who searches the Geography Network will find your data if it meets their search criteria.
Share your data on another organization’s Metadata Service—Any organization that has ESRI® ArcIMS can host a Metadata Service. If you have access to another organization’s Metadata Service, you can publish your metadata to it. Anyone who can use that service will then be able to see the data you’ve shared. Like sharing your data on the Geography Network, this option requires that you have access to the Internet and have been granted permission to publish to the Metadata Service.
Share your data on your own Metadata Service—By building your own Metadata Service, you have full control over it. You can control who can search and browse its contents as well as who can publish metadata to it. For example, you might create a Metadata Service to facilitate data sharing between departments within your organization. You could configure your system so that only people within your organization could access it. Later, if you choose to give people outside your organization access to your service, you can easily do so.
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