An Initiative to develop the

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Dublin Core Metadata Initiative and GOL
Implementation

• An Initiative to develop the
• Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI)

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Well Cover

• Introduction to the Dublin Core metadata
  standard
• Implementation of the Dublin Core standard by
  Government OnLine (GOL)
• Review of Dublin Core Coverage element usage as
  recommended by the GOL Metadata Working Group.

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Introduction to Dublin Core

• Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
• An open forum engaged in the development of
  interoperable online metadata standards.
• http//dublincore.org/
• Dublin Core element set (DCES)
• A standard for cross-domain information resource
  description, typically for electronic documents.
• Promotes cross-disciplinary discovery and is
  intended to complement other standards.
• Has now been ratified as an ISO IS via ISO TC 46
  Information and Documentation.

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Dublin Core Element Set
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GOL Implementation of DCES

• The Web one of four government service delivery
  channels, equivalent to telephone, mail and
  person-to person service.
• Common Look and Feel (CLF) promotes a consistent,
  predictable experience when accessing Government
  of Canada information online.
• Government OnLine adopted part of the DCES as
  part of the CLF Standard in 2000
• Provides government-wide nutritional
  information label for web resources
• Consistency enables discovery

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GOL Implementation of DCES

• Five mandatory metadata elements Title,
  Creator, Date, Subject, Language.
• Several optional elements recommended Coverage,
  Description, Type
• Guidelines for all CLF required or recommended
  metadata elements were produced by a group of
  metadata experts and are available online at
  http//www.nlc-bnc.ca/6/37/s37-4016-e.html.

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Example of CLF metadata

• ltmeta name"dc.title" content"Welcome to
  GeoConnections"gt
• ltmeta name"dc.creator" content"Government of
  Canada,Natural Resources Canada,Earth Sciences
  Sector,GeoConnections Secretariat"gt
• ltmeta name"dc.date.created" content"2001-06-01"gt
  
• ltmeta name"dc.date.modified" content"2002-04-04"
  gt
• ltmeta name"dc.language" scheme"ISO639-2"
  content"eng"gt
• ltmeta name"dc.subject" scheme"gccore"
  content"GIS,Geographic Information
  systems,geography,geomatics,maps,atlas,cartography
  ,geodesy, topography,spatial reference
  system,GPS,hydrology,sustainable
  development,toponymy "gt

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Overview of DC Coverage

• Coverage will include spatial location (a place
  name or geographic coordinates), temporal period
  or jurisdiction. Recommeded best practice is to
  select a value from a controlled vocabulary and
  to use, where appropriate, named places or time
  periods in preference to numeric identifiers such
  as sets of coordinates or date ranges.
• GOL MWG Geographic Coverage sub-group provided
  guidance for implementing dc.coverage.

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Why Use Coverage? 

• Specifically for spatial information.
• Spatial information can be used to perform
  powerful searches that allow a user to search on
  a specific location, exclude certain areas, sort
  by nearest location, and many other operations.
• Can identify aspects of a resource not included
  under ltdc.subjectgt or ltdc.descriptiongt. 

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When to Use Coverage 

• Coverage should be implemented when the content
  of the resource is about or applicable to place,
  as in the following examples
• Employment opportunities for a certain region
  (information that is organized by area).
• Environmental impact assessment for a watershed
  (information about an area).
• Sites of historical significance (location
  information).

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How to Use Coverage 

• Coverage should be populated using a controlled
  vocabulary, authority file or other registered
  scheme. Controlled vocabularies or authority
  files recommended for use with Coverage are
  registered with the National Library of Canada
  (NLC) and can be accessed at http//www.nlc-bnc.ca
  /8/4/r4-280-e.html.
• Vocabularies are registered under a unique scheme
  name that must be stated in every instance of
  ltdc.coverage.spatialgt.

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Example of GOL Coverage

• The bounding box coordinates for Prince Edward
  Island, Canada would read
• ltmeta name"dc.coverage.spatial" scheme"DCMIBox"
  content"northlimit47.0 southlimit-45.9
  westlimit-64.5 eastlimit-62.0"gt
• A place name for a small town in Ontario would
  read
• ltmeta name"dc.coverage.spatial"
  scheme"gcgeonames" content"Canada Ontario
  Grand Valley"gt

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Dublin Core Metadata Initiative and GOL
Implementation

• Questions?