What is Metadata?

Metadata is a description of data or information. It provides details on who, what, when, where, why and how data is created and maintained.

Land Information Ontario (LIO) provides a platform to capture and publish geospatial metadata. Geospatial metadata is used to document geographic information such as GIS files, databases and satellite imagery.

Geospatial metadata is created specifically for data and information assets that can be related to a physical location on the earth’s surface, either explicitly (by way of a point, line or polygon or the use of x, y coordinates) or inferred (such as a place name).  Metadata is used to discover data and determine its usefulness.

For more information on metadata, try one of LIO’s training modules.

Standards

A standard is a structured set of common terms and definitions.  Metadata standards are important because they ensure consistent information is captured for all data and information.

There are several different geospatial metadata standards available to organizations. The differences, even though slight, between these standards make it difficult to exchange metadata or tap into other metadata repositories. 

Work is underway to approve a metadata standard for North America which is based on the International Standards Organization (ISO) geospatial metadata standard (ISO 19115).  This standard, currently known as the North American Profile (NAP) of the ISO 19115 will be adopted by standards organizations in both Canada and the United States. 

The metadata elements of the NAP have been incorporated into the Government of Ontario Information Technology Standard (GO-ITS) 72 Geospatial Metadata Standard. 

For more information on metadata, try one of LIO’s training modules.

Training

LIO has partnered with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) to develop a suite of metadata training materials.  These are available for download in multiple formats and can be customized to meet your organization’s needs.   For more information, please contact us at (705) 755-1878 or by email at lio@ontario.ca.

Modules currently available include:

 
©2009 Queen’s Printer of Ontario
This material may be adapted in whole or in part for non-commercial purposes provided credit is given in the following form:
    Source: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the US Federal Geographic Data Committee
    Copyright: 2009 Queen’s Printer of Ontario