Making
Sense of What Metadata Means to NOAA
Kim
Owens
Office of the CIO, NOS
In
order to save valuable time and resources, NOAA and the rest of
the nation must have a system in place that provides a way to
share data. Efficient data sharing is made possible only when
the data has a proper, standardized annotation, or metadata. By
definition, a dataset is incomplete and inaccurate unless it has
appropriate metadata associated with it.
NOAA
has a need to create metadata that complies with the Federal Geographic
Data Committee (FGDC) Content Standard for Digital Geospatial
Metadata (CSDGM or the Standard). As a result of the 1994 Executive
Order 12906, Coordinating Geographic Data Infrastructure, all
Federal agencies are required to create FGDC compliant metadata
for their datasets, and make that metadata accessible to the public
by publishing it to a clearinghouse (or a decentralized system
of servers that house metadata). Accurate, complete CSDGM metadata
is an asset to every NOAA spatial dataset in that it thoroughly
documents the data fulfilling OMB's directive for all Federal
agencies to account for the quality and accuracy of their data.
Metadata is also the prime component in accessing the data through
the FGDC clearinghouse, the NOAA Server Project, the new NOS Enterprise
GIS Data Explorer and the new E-Gov initiative, Geospatial One-Stop.
Not only does CSDGM metadata assist the user in determining the
utility of the data, but NOAA has a real need for metadata as
a means to comply with Section 515 of Public Law 106-554. Section
515 directs the Office of Management and Budget to "provide
policy and procedural guidance to Federal agencies for ensuring
and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity
of information (including statistical information) disseminated
by Federal agencies."
Kim
Owens, NOAA Metadata Specialist, provides free metadata training
to all NOAA management and technical staff as part of the NOAA
Metadata Outreach and Support Program. Learn how FGDC compliant
metadata contributes to NOAA's Strategic Goals, our federally
mandated commitments to OMB, as well as our responsibility to
the Department of Homeland Security for providing the best and
most accurately documented data to the nation.
