Metadata workshop, 15 December 2003

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Metadata workshop, 15 December 2003 Durham
University
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Metadata Workshop Timetable

• project overview
• metadata and geo-spatial datasets
• HFE Metadata Application Profile and guidelines
• metadata tools
• benefits of creating metadata
• a Go-Geo! Portal overview and hands on
  evaluation session.

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Aims of the Workshop

• introduce geo-spatial metadata concepts and
  available resources with the intention of
  establishing a new mindset amongst data
  developers and users in academia
• encourage metadata creation and publication
• seek your feedback on the design and
  functionality of the Go-Geo! portal.

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Project Overview

• The driving impetus of this project was the
  recognition that a data sharing and management
  solution needed to be developed for the academic
  community to address the increasing amounts of
  geo-spatial datasets that academics and students
  were creating with the use of GI systems and
  database technologies and conventional means.
• Portal technology and metadata were identified as
  the resources for delivering these capabilities
  to the academic community, especially with
  regards to using portal technology as a mechanism
  to publicise and deliver existing datasets to a
  range of users.
• This led to the development of

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The Go-Geo! Portal a simple interface designed to
run queries to discover geo-spatial datasets.
The portal enables searching by the use of
various options including free text, date,
resource type and geographic location.
Geo-spatial datasets refer to data...
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Geo-spatial dataset data that have some form of
spatial or geo-graphic reference that enables
them to be located in two- or three-dimensional
space
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Project History Phase I - Scoping Study

• 10-month project phase (Aug 2000 - June 2001),
  JISC funded
• undertaken by EDINA and the History Data Service
  (now UKDA) and involved other key players e.g.
  JISC, MIMAS, ADS, UKDA
• feasibility study
• understand requirements and demand for a portal
  and browser
• explore options investigate technical and
  organisational issues
• activities included
• undertaking requirements analysis
• reviewing metadata standards v. needs of HFE
• identifying geo-spatial resources and assessing
  what metadata existed

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Phase II - Portal Demonstrator

• running from July 2002 to June 2003,
  portal-related activities included logo name and
  design, hence, the Go-Geo! Portal
• portal Help pages
• the development of a demonstrator portal with
  simple query interfaces allowing for search by
  subject, date, resource type and geographic
  location
• and further development to demonstrate
  cross-searching of
• a database local to the portal
• an existing, remote, structured geo-spatial data
  directory service to find geo-spatial data HDS
  database
• an existing resource catalogue containing
  geo-related resources GEsource
• the GIgateway and its directory services.

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Portal
Other IEContent Providers
Geo-data Gateway
NGDF/GIgatewayNetwork
Go-Geo! portal architecture
Metadata or resource servers
Geo-data Network(proposed)
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Phase II Go-Geo Content

• GI-related resources, tied together by location,
  which include
• software, learning resources, courses and
  training, etc.
• information about studies and projects, articles,
  reports, organisations, personal contacts,
  mailing-lists
• conferences
• guidance and reference documents for
  understanding and creating geo-spatial metadata
• a workshop was held at University of Essex in
  January 2003 to introduce the Go-Geo! Portal
  demonstrator to stakeholders as part of an effort
  to publicise the portal and receive suggestions
  for its improvement.

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Phase II Metadata Activities

• amended and finalised the HFE Metadata
  Application Profile derived in large part from
  the NGDF Discovery Metadata Guidelines and
  mandatory ISO 19115 elements
• produced a 150 page guideline document for the
  HFE Profile and to support metadata creation
• cross-mapped between the HFE Profile, the ISO
  19115 Metadata Standard, the FGDC Standard and
  the NGDF
• created 100 metadata records for portal content
  and demonstrator purposes. This included
  converting 25 records from Archaeology Data
  Service (ADS), the History Data Service (HDS),
  and the Manchester Information Associated
  Services (MIMAS) and 75 created records from
  EDINA
• reviewed and selected potential sources for
  geo-spatial datasets hence, contacts for
  metadata also distributed questionnaires
• developed an MS Access-based tool for creating
  metadata records.

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Phase III Go-Geo Portal Trial Serviceand
Metadata Initiative

• running from August 2003 to July 2004, Phase III
  project efforts will entail running portal
  evaluation sessions at selected metadata
  workshops and creating an on-site questionnaire.
  Both efforts are meant to encourage feedback that
  will lead to improvements in portal functionality
  and design in preparation for rolling the portal
  out as full service
• a sister project, the JISC-funded Metadata
  Initiative, will involve the promotion of
  geo-spatial metadata through workshops and
  presentations. These are to be organised and
  presented at up to 18 universities across the UK.
  The workshops, such as this one, will provide an
  introduction to geo-spatial metadata, the HFE
  Metadata Application Profile, supporting
  guidelines and metadata tool.

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Metadata represent an ordered summary of
information that describes something, in this
case, a geo-spatial dataset. The details include
the What, Where, When, Who and Why of the
dataset, plus the means to access and use it. A
metadata record may answer the following
questions about a dataset

• What is the purpose of the dataset? 
• Where did the dataset originate? 
• What attribute information does it contain? 
• What processes or algorithms were employed to
  create it? 
• What spatial reference system does the dataset
  use? 
• What is the granularity of the data? 
• When was the dataset created?
• How do I obtain the dataset? 

• What geographic area or extent does it cover? 
• Whom do I contact for more information or access
  to the dataset? 
• What are the access and use restrictions and how
  much will it cost? 
• Who is responsible for creating the metadata
  record for the dataset?
• What time period does the dataset content cover?

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• Metadata reveal
• information that isnt
• apparent when looking
• at geo-spatial dataset
• files in a directory. The
• information details of a
• dataset file are revealed
• in the metadata record.

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• A geo-spatial dataset file
• opened in a GIS software
• package doesnt always reveal
• detailed information without
• further investigation.
• What do these polygons
• represent?
• which application?
• what are the attributes?
• where is this study area?
• which projection and
• co-ordinate system?
• what is the spatial accuracy?
• when were the data captured and processed?
• These questions can be answered
• with one metadata record.

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• Think also of defining metadata
• in terms of food product
• labelling. Labels provide
• specific information about the
• ingredients in these tins.
• Remove the labels and decide
• which tin to open. One tin
• contains tuna-flavoured cat food
• and the other tuna fish. Would
• you select Tin A or B?

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Metadata Standards

• Metadata Standards represent precise
  specifications applied to information
  documentation operations/procedures to enforce
  and ensure consistency and interoperability.
• Metadata Standards are organized in a hierarchy
  of compound elements or entities and data
  elements that define the information content for
  metadata to document a set of data.
• Metadata Standards also assigns structure and
  conditions to elements and entities. These
  include Element and Entity Definitions and
  Identifiers, Obligations, Data Type and Domain.
  Obligations refer to whether or not a value must
  be entered for the element Data Type defines the
  value format entered, such as character string,
  date, numeric or a list.

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Metadata Standard Initiatives

• Perhaps the most well-known metadata initiative
  is the Dublin Core.
• The Dublin Core element set defines 15 metadata
  elements for
• simple resource discovery. It also serves as an
  intermediary source
• for use between the numerous community-specific
  formats.
• 1) Title 2) Creator 3) Subject and Keywords
  4) Description
• 5) Publisher 6) Contributor 7) Date 8)
  Resource Type 9)Format
• 10) Resource Identifier 11)Source 12)
  Language 13) Relation
• 14) Coverage 15) Rights Management

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Geo-spatial Metadata Standard Initiatives

• Federal Geographic Data Committees Content
  Standard for Digital
• Geo-spatial Metadata (CSDGM) contains 334
  elements. This standard
• was produced during a mid 1990s initiative for
  the intended use of
• documenting geo-spatial datasets. The National
  Geo-spatial Data
• Framework (NGDF)/Gigateway Metadata Guidelines
  are based on the
• FGDC standard. The NGDF/Gigateway Guidelines
  represent an
• application profile created for the UK
  geo-spatial community and
• Gigateway gateway web service.
• The International Organisation for
  Standardisation (ISO) has recently
• produced an approved version of the ISO 19115
  Metadata Standard for
• Geographic Information. This standard contains
  337 elements and will
• replace the FGDCs Standard. Currently, the
  NGDF/Gigateway
• Guidelines are being reviewed in order to make it
  compliant with the ISO
• 19115.

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Application Profiles

• The geo-spatial metadata standards contain too
  many elements and
• many organisations turn to the development of
  application profiles to
• meet their needs.
• a significant reduction in the number of entities
  and elements each organisation selects from the
  standards
• this allows for selecting specific elements that
  are best suited for specific applications. The
  NGDF/GIgateway Metadata Guidelines contain 42
  entities and elements and were selected to meet
  the needs of the UK geo-spatial community.
• additional elements can also be added that arent
  part of a standard, though this reduces
  cross-searching capabilities across a wider
  network and other organisations using their own
  profiles and standards.
• the careful selection of core element set is
  always critical to assure success in
  cross-searches.

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The HFE Metadata Application Profile and
Guidelines

• derived from the NGDF Metadata Guidelines and the
  ISO 19115 Metadata Standard, the HFE Metadata
  Application Profile was created to support the
  needs of the UK academic community
• it contains 71 elements categorised and separated
  under the eight entity groups
• has 27 mandatory elements of which 12 elements
  are used for contact details. With the exception
  of one element (Description), the remaining 15
  elements require only short answers or the
  selection of appropriate term(s) from lists
• Guidelines are embedded in the Go-Geo! Portal and
  contain 150 pages of support material and
  examples to assist portal users and metadata
  creators from numerous academic disciplines.

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The HFE Metadata Application Profile Eight Groups
(Entities)

• G1 Citation
• G2 Identification Information (What)
• G3 Data Capture Period (When)
• G4 Time Period Covered by Dataset (When)
• G5 Spatial Extent of Dataset (Where)
• G6 Custodian (Who)
• G7 Distributor (Access)
• G8 Metadata Creator/Record Creator

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..and subgroup entities

• G2 Identification Information
• G1.sg2 Spatial Reference System
• G1.sg3 Level of Spatial Detail
• G5 Spatial Extent of Dataset
• G5.sg1 Spatial Referencing using Geographic
• Co-ordinates
• G5.sg1-a Spatial Referencing using
  Co-ordinates of a Bounding Rectangle
• G5.sg1-b Spatial Referencing using
  co-ordinates of a Bounding Polygon
• G5.sg1 Spatial Referencing using Geographic
  Identifiers
• G7 Distributor
• G7.sg1 Access and Use Constraints

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G1 Citation

• 1. Title (Mandatory) (1)
• The name by which the dataset is known.
• 2. Alternative Title (Optional)
• Short name, other name, acronym or alternative
  language title.
• 3. Creator (Mandatory) (2)
• Organisation or person that developed the dataset
  and has primary
• responsibility for the intellectual content of
  the dataset.

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• 4. Identifier (Optional)
• A unique string or number used to identify the
  dataset.
• 5. Edition (Mandatory) (3)
• The number of the edition of the dataset.

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G2 Identification Information (What)

• 6. Topic (Mandatory) (4)
• Main theme(s) of the dataset.
• 1) Farming 2) Biota 3) Boundaries
• 4) Climatology/Meteorology/Atmosphere 5)
  Economy 6) Elevation 7) Environment
  8) Geo-scientific Information 9) Health
• 10) Imagery/Base Maps/Earth Cover 11)
  Intelligence/Military
• 12) Inland Waters 13) Location 14)
  Oceans 15) Planning/Cadastre16) Society
  17) Structure 18) Transportation19)
  Utilities/Communication

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• 7. Controlled Vocabulary (Mandatory) (5)
• Name of the controlled vocabulary used as a
  source for the
• controlled keywords.
• -UNESCO Thesaurus (United Nations Educational,
  Scientific and
• Cultural Organization)
• -GEMET (GEneral Multilingual Environmental
  Thesaurus)
• -HASSET (Humanities and Social Science
  Electronic Thesaurus)
• 8. Controlled Keywords (Mandatory) (6)
• Keywords taken from a controlled vocabulary
  summarising the
• subject of the dataset.
• 9. Other Keywords (Optional)
• Other words or phrases summarising the subject of
  the dataset.

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• 10. Controlled Place Name Vocabulary
  (Optional)
• Name of the controlled vocabulary used as a
  source for the
• controlled place name keywords.
• -Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
• -Ordnance Survey 150000 Gazetteer
• -geoXwalk
• 11. Controlled Place Name Keywords (Optional)
• The geographic name of a location(s) covered by a
  dataset.

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• 12. Description (Mandatory) (7)
• A brief description of the dataset.  This should
  include some
• explanation as to why the dataset was produced
  and how it has
• been used since its creation.
• 13. Quality (Optional)
• A general assessment of the quality of a dataset
  for determining its
• fitness for use.  Quality is stated in terms of
  accuracy,
• completeness, and consistency for both the data
  and the dataset.
• 14. Language (Mandatory) (8)
• The language(s) used within the dataset.
• English Gaelic - Welsh

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• 15. Further Information (Optional)
• Source of further information about the dataset.
• 16. Related Datasets (Optional)
• Information about other, related datasets of a
  similar theme or
• derived from a common source, which may be of
  interest to the
• user.

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G2 Identification Information (What) G2.sg1
Spatial Reference System

• 17. Co-ordinate System (Conditional Mandatory)
  (9)
• Name or description of the spatial referencing
  system used within
• the dataset, which is based on co-ordinates e.g.
  British National
• Grid, Irish National Grid, latitude and
  longitude.
• 18. Geographic Identifiers (Conditional
  Mandatory) (10)
• Name or description of the spatial referencing
  system used within
• the dataset, which is based on geographic
  identifiers e.g.
• postcodes, postal addresses, administrative
  units, or countries.

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G2 Identification Information (What) G2.sg2
Level of Spatial Detail

• 19. Source Scale Denominator (Optional)
• Denominator of the representative fraction on
  the source map(s)
• (e.g. on a 150000 scale map, the source scale
  denominator is
• 50000). If no source map used, enter 0. If
  multiple source map
• scales were used, enter the Source Scale
  Denominator of the
• smallest scale map (largest denominator).

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• 20. Imagery or Grid Raster Cell or Pixel Size
  X-Value (Optional)
• The column width of a raster cell expressed in
  distance units of
• measure.
• 21. Imagery or Grid Raster Cell or Pixel Size
  Y-Value (Optional)
• The row height of a raster cell expressed in
  distance units of
• measure.
• 22. Smallest Administrative Unit (Optional)
• The smallest representative unit associated with
  disaggregated
• statistical data.

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G3 Data Capture Period (When)

• 23. Status of the Start Date for Dataset Capture
  (Optional)
• Declaration on the status of the starting date
  for data capture.
• Known - Not Known - Not Applicable
• 24. Start Date of Dataset Capture Process
  (Optional)
• Date on which data for dataset were first
  collected.
• 20031215

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• 25. Status of the Completion Date for Dataset
  Capture (Optional)
• Declaration on the status of the completion date
  for data capture.
• Known - Not Known - Not Applicable - Ongoing
• 26. Completion Date of Dataset Capture Process
  (Optional)
• Date on which data for dataset were last
  collected.
• 20031215

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• 27. Update Frequency (Optional)
• The frequency with which revisions and updates
  are made to the
• dataset after its initial completion.
• Hourly Daily Weekly Fortnightly Monthly
  Quarterly
• Biannually Annually Biennially Triennially
  Quinquennially
• Decennially Continuous Irregular Never
  Not Known - Other

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G3 Time Period Covered by Dataset (When)

• 28. Start Date for Time Period Covered by
  Dataset (Optional)
• The start date of the actual time period the
  dataset covers.
• 29. End Date for Time Period Covered by Dataset
  (Optional)
• The end date of the actual time period the
  dataset covers.

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G5 Spatial Extent of Dataset (Where) G5.sg1
Spatial Referencing using Geographic
Co-ordinates

• 30. System of Spatial Referencing by
  Co-ordinates (Mandatory) (11)
• Name of the spatial reference system used for the
  geographic co-
• ordinates.
• British National Grid Irish Grid Latitude and
  Longitude

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G5.sg1 Spatial Referencing using Geographic
Co-ordinates G5.sg1-a Spatial Referencing
using Co-ordinates of a Bounding Rectangle

• 31. West Bounding Co-ordinate (Mandatory) (12)
• Westernmost co-ordinate of a bounding rectangle.
  (Grid Value/Longitude)
• 32. East Bounding Co-ordinate (Mandatory) (13)
• Easternmost co-ordinate of a bounding rectangle.
  (Grid Value/Longitude)
• 33. North Bounding Co-ordinate (Mandatory) (14)
• Northernmost co-ordinate of a bounding rectangle.
  (Grid Value/Latitude)
• 34. South Bounding Co-ordinate (Mandatory) (15)
• Southernmost co-ordinate of a bounding rectangle.
  (Grid Value/Latitude)

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G5.sg1 Spatial Referencing using Geographic
Co-ordinates G5.sg1-b Spatial Referencing
using Co-ordinates of a Bounding Polygon

• 35. Spatial Referencing using Co-ordinates of
  the Bounding
• Polygon (Optional)
• The set of x and y co-ordinates (first number
  easting of a point,
• second number northing of a point)  that make
  up the bounding
• polygon.

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G5.sg2 Spatial Referencing by
Geographic Identifiers

• 36. Nations (Optional)
• Geographic coverage expressed in terms of nations
  within the
• British Isles.
• England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
  Isle of Man
• Channel Islands United Kingdom Republic of
  Ireland

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• 37. Administrative Areas (Optional)
• Geographic coverage expressed in terms of
  administrative areas.
• 38. Postcode Districts (Optional)
• Geographic coverage expressed in terms of
  postcode districts.

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G6 Custodian (Who)

• 39. Name of Custodian (Mandatory) (16)
• The name of the organisation or person
  responsible for  the
• maintenance of the dataset.
• 40. Postal Street Address of Custodian
  (Mandatory) (17)
• 41. Postal City of Custodian (Mandatory) (18)
• 42. Postal County of Custodian (Optional)
• 43. Postal Code of Custodian (Mandatory) (19)
• 44. Postal Country of Custodian (Mandatory)
  (20)

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• 45. Telephone Number of Custodian (Optional)
• 46. Facsimile Number of Custodian (Optional)
• 47. Email Address of Custodian (Optional)
• 48. Web Address of Custodian (Optional)

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G7 Distributor (Access)

• 49. Name of Distributor (Mandatory) (21)
• The name of the organisation or person from whom
  the dataset may
• be obtained.
• 50. Full Postal Street Address of Distributor
  (Mandatory) (22)
• 51. Postal Code of Distributor (Mandatory) (23)
• 52. Telephone Number of Distributor (Optional)
• 53. Facsimile Number of Distributor (Optional)
• 54. Email Address of Distributor (Optional)
• 55. Web Address of Distributor (Optional)

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• 56. Presentation Type (Optional)
• Form in which the dataset is available.
• Image Graphic Map Numeric Text - Other
• 57. Dataset Format (Optional)
• Format in which digital data can be provided
  (e.g. DXF, DLG,
• MapInfo, IDRISI, ARC/INFO, ERDAS, DBF)
• 58. Supply Media (Optional)
• Media format in which the dataset can be
  supplied.
• Paper Magnetic Optical Online - Other

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• 59. Sample (Optional)
• A sample of the dataset and its approximate file
  size (Megabytes).
• 60. Online Linkage (Optional)
• The name of the World Wide Web site or other
  on-line source that
• contains the dataset.

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G7 Distributor (Access) G7.sg1 Access and
Use Constraints

• 61. Access Constraints (Optional)
• Restrictions and legal prerequisites for
  accessing the dataset. 
• These include any access constraints applied to
  assure the
• protection of privacy or intellectual property,
  and any special
• restrictions or limitations on obtaining the
  dataset.
• Financial Legal Other Not Known - None

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• 62. Access Details (Optional)
• Description of the restrictions and legal
  prerequisites for accessing
• the dataset.
• 63. Use Constraints (Optional)
• Restrictions and legal prerequisites on using the
  dataset after
• access is granted.  These include any access
  constraints applied to
• assure the protection of privacy or intellectual
  property, and any
• special restrictions or limitations on obtaining
  the dataset.

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G8 Metadata Creator/Record Creator

• 64. Name of Metadata Creator (Mandatory) (24)
• The name of the organisation or person
  responsible for the metadata
• updates.
• 65. Full Postal Street Address of Metadata
  Creator (Mandatory) (25)
• 66. Postal Code of Metadata Creator (Mandatory)
  (26)
• 67. Telephone Number of Metadata Creator
  (Optional)
• 68. Facsimile Number of Metadata Creator
  (Optional)

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• 69. Email Address of Metadata Creator
  (Optional)
• 70. Web Address of Metadata Creator (Optional)
• 71. Metadata Last Updated (Mandatory) (27)
• Date on which the metadata (file) were created or
  last updated.
• 20031215

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Metadata Tool

• temporary metadata tool designed within MS
  Access, which can be downloaded at the project
  web pages and used for creating metadata records
• includes all 71 elements of the HFE Metadata
  Application Profile
• metadata records can be saved as database files
  and sent to the UK Data Archive where theyll be
  validated and sent to EDINA for conversion into
  an XML format and stored on the Go-Geo! Portals
  node. XML is an EXtensible Markup Language,
  which is a system for marking up documents and
  data using tags that indicate or define
  structural elements
• the UKDA and EDINA are developing a JAVA-based
  internet metadata tool that will further simplify
  the process of metadata creation and validation
• finally, some GIS software packages contain
  metadata editors that can extract some
  information, but ultimately there are no easy
  alternatives because most of the information lies
  here...

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in our brains and we need to move it from here to
the computer
Some day we might find solutions to this
problem....
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• we may encounter beings
• from other worlds who
• could use telepathy to
• extract dataset information
• from our heads..

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• or well discover a
• technological solution that
• extracts dataset information
• from our heads and
• transfers it to the
• computer.
• Until then, well need to
• depend on available tools.

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MS Access Metadata Tool Demonstration
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The Importance of Metadata Creation

• provides support to create a mindset and
  operational structure for managing and storing
  dataset information for departmental and
  intra-departmental use
• assures integrity of existing and new datasets
  using metadata as a tracking mechanism to monitor
  changes and edits to datasets
• maintains an inventory of datasets to reduce
  redundancy and time required to reassess existing
  datasets for new and future applications
• eliminates or reduces the risk of redundancy in
  data collection or deletion of existing datasets
• reduces effects of staff turnover and minimise
  its disruptive effects
• protects investments of time and cost dedicated
  to data development

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• assures that other organisations will not
  replicate data at added cost and time
• provides potential users a dataset catalogue to
  view and select datasets to complement or augment
  their existing in-house datasets, which can be
  used together for other applications
• allows for more spontaneity amongst users as they
  browse the Go-Geo! portal and metadata. The
  discovery of a dataset may instigate the user to
  develop an idea for a new application
• metadata on the portal can be referenced and
  cited for project proposals
• the portals node can serve as a repository for
  organisations to store and manage their metadata
  and use the portal as an internal resource to
  access and share datasets. This will save an
  organisation the time and cost that is associated
  with establishing and maintaining internal
  servers to store, manage and update metadata

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• metadata and the portal can provide a quick,
  short-term solution for data developers to
  protect their intellectual rights using metadata
  to announce their data and applications on the
  portal
• some organisations and individuals may wish to
  advertise and sell their datasets to other
  interested parties in academia and in the private
  and public sectors
• the portal will be linked to the other portals
  and the UK gateway, thus allowing for
  advertisement to a large audience of data users
• the metadata and portal will complement and
  augment other UK academic portals and the UKs
  GIgateway gateway site.

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GIgateway

• Just a few words regarding
• Gigateway (www.gigateway.org.uk).
• It is a geo-data gateway site
• serving the UKs geo-spatial
• community. The Go-Geo! Portal will
• be a service that complements the
• Gigateway site. The Go-Geo! portal
• will focus specifically on the needs of
• the academic community. Students
• moving on to employment in
• government and public and private
• sector organisations will be able to
• create metadata for GIgateway using
• its support system of metadata tools
• and guidelines.

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Go-Geo! Portal Trial Service

• the trial of the Go-Geo! portal demonstrator
  service began on 17th November 2003.
• an initial evaluation is being held to allow for
  further feedback at the start of the trial.
• 2nd evaluation will take place towards the end of
  the trial.
• The trial Go-Geo! service and further information
  about the project can be found at
  http//www.gogeo.ac.uk.

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Go-Geo! Portal Evaluation

• The evaluation session will last for 45 minutes.
• try out the portal at http//www.gogeo.ac.uk.
• complete and return the questionnaire

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