Formal metadata information and software

Metadata in plain language

Plain-language resources for metadata creators and reviewers

Peter N. Schweitzer, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA
Mention metadata to people and you'll likely see them cringe. They cringe because metadata lies at the interface between people who create spatial data and the people who would use those data, and it is hard to communicate to a prospective data user all of the wisdom needed to make proper and effective use of the data. Metadata focuses our attention on difficult educational, cultural, and technological issues inexorably linked with the common desire of scientists to see their work valued by other people.
Figure 1 below shows how metadata are transferred from data producers to data users. In small, active research groups it is possible to communicate using mostly technical terminology, both because the data producers and data users share a common understanding of the terminology and the circumstances under which the data were produced and because the data users are able to return to the data producers frequently to ask questions. The situation changes drastically when data are made available through the internet to people who are not well known by the data producers. Data users may have different backgrounds and needs, and there are many sources of data available. Consequently data users need metadata that are readily searchable and can be presented in a variety of different formats.
Metadata are readily searchable only if they conform to a standardized structure; they can be presented in a variety of different formats only if they are parseable by computer software. These needs require the metadata to be described using technical terminology that is standardized across many scientific and technical disciplines. But that technical terminology is often unfamiliar to specialists in any one discipline. Hence metadata are not only hard for producers to write, they are also hard for reviewers and end-users to read. Plain-language approaches provide solutions directed at easing specific troubles encountered in writing and reading metadata.
Path of metadata from data producer to users
Figure 1. Diagram depicting the flow of metadata from data producers to data users. This information transfer cannot occur using plain language alone because unstructured information cannot be reliably indexed by topic, place, time, and other characteristics, nor can it be reliably reexpressed in a variety of formats suiting the needs of diverse users. Consequently the metadata must be expressed using some technical terminology in a standardized structure and parseable format; these allow computer software to index it appropriately and reexpress the metadata in plain language as well as technical terminology.
This diagram is also available as a line drawing in PDF:
<https://geology.usgs.gov/tools/metadata/tools/doc/ctc/pathway-bw.pdf>

Plain-language approaches to creating, reviewing, and reading metadata

  1. Understanding metadata and learning how to write it
  2. Expressing metadata as answers to standard questions
  3. Examples showing plain-language and technical terminology