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hits on “niche” data products that are the most relevant for your application because
these services are general-purpose for a broad audience.
Metadata are “data about data” which describe a dataset’s authorship, contents,
format, resolution, timing, provenance, sources, methods, a license of use, globally
unique identification, etc. Metadata is essential for FAIR data management.
Metadata is an essential component of FEW systems data because valid uses of data
require a rigorous treatment of quality. The most widely accepted metadata standard
for geospatial datasets is the ISO 19136 standard, which is XML-encoded and
machine-readable by GIS systems. However, when integrating multiple datasets, we
routinely find that some of them are missing metadata or that metadata is noncompliant (Ruddell et al. 2014). This can make it difficult to ascertain the origin (i.e.,
provenance), precision, or methods for quality control on the source datasets.
However, a longstanding best practice is to bury the details of the dataset’s construction in the original report or published paper that made use of the data—that is, a
“publication of record,” so this is a good place to look for details on data quality.
Regardless of whether the source metadata is intact, it is essential to poduce highquality metadata to accompany any integrated FEW systems datasets that are
published.
Beginning with the Dublin Core workshops, the concept of “core” metadata is
now popularized (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, n.d.). Some of the more important or “core” metadata elements are defined by the metadata standard, but they
typically include:
• Title
• Author(s)
• Date of Original Publication (not date the metadata was created)
• Abstract, which usually describes provenance, methods, precision, and other
details
• File Format
• Data model or Ontology utilized (which may be implied in some file formats)
• Variable definition headers and Variable units
• Language (e.g., English or “en”)
• Conditions of use, License, Permissions, and Security
• Publication of record (for citation purposes)
• GIS projection and datum
• Temporal resolution
• Spatial resolution
• Temporal coverage or bounds
• Spatial coverage or bounds
• Keyword(s) from controlled vocabularies and ontologies
• Identity of the controlled vocabulary (may be implied by the data model or
ontology)
ISO is the International Organization for Standardization (or Organisation
Internationale de Normalization, in the French), which maintains many essential
metadata standards including the widely used ISO19136 geospatial metadata stan14 Data
hits on “niche” data products that are the most relevant for your application because
these services are general-purpose for a broad audience.
Metadata are “data about data” which describe a dataset’s authorship, contents,
format, resolution, timing, provenance, sources, methods, a license of use, globally
unique identification, etc. Metadata is essential for FAIR data management.
Metadata is an essential component of FEW systems data because valid uses of data
require a rigorous treatment of quality. The most widely accepted metadata standard
for geospatial datasets is the ISO 19136 standard, which is XML-encoded and
machine-readable by GIS systems. However, when integrating multiple datasets, we
routinely find that some of them are missing metadata or that metadata is noncompliant (Ruddell et al. 2014). This can make it difficult to ascertain the origin (i.e.,
provenance), precision, or methods for quality control on the source datasets.
However, a longstanding best practice is to bury the details of the dataset’s construction in the original report or published paper that made use of the data—that is, a
“publication of record,” so this is a good place to look for details on data quality.
Regardless of whether the source metadata is intact, it is essential to poduce highquality metadata to accompany any integrated FEW systems datasets that are
published.
Beginning with the Dublin Core workshops, the concept of “core” metadata is
now popularized (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, n.d.). Some of the more important or “core” metadata elements are defined by the metadata standard, but they
typically include:
• Title
• Author(s)
• Date of Original Publication (not date the metadata was created)
• Abstract, which usually describes provenance, methods, precision, and other
details
• File Format
• Data model or Ontology utilized (which may be implied in some file formats)
• Variable definition headers and Variable units
• Language (e.g., English or “en”)
• Conditions of use, License, Permissions, and Security
• Publication of record (for citation purposes)
• GIS projection and datum
• Temporal resolution
• Spatial resolution
• Temporal coverage or bounds
• Spatial coverage or bounds
• Keyword(s) from controlled vocabularies and ontologies
• Identity of the controlled vocabulary (may be implied by the data model or
ontology)
ISO is the International Organization for Standardization (or Organisation
Internationale de Normalization, in the French), which maintains many essential
metadata standards including the widely used ISO19136 geospatial metadata stan14 Data