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Data
Storage - Metadata, Clearinghouses, and Inventories
Metadata are 'data about data'.
More specifically,
metadata are a structured means of describing the content, sources, condition,
quality and other appropriate characteristics of acquired data; or,
alternatively, metadata answer
who,
what,
when,
where,
why,
and
how
about every facet of
the data that are being documented.
Metadata do
not, in any way, represent the actual content of the data - they only describe
the data.
Metadata
is used:
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To tell others what
datasets are available. This helps prevent duplication of efforts,
especially among government agencies. Thus, some organizations could end up
sharing maintenance efforts with other organizations. |
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To help organizations
document (categorize and inventory) the information they have. This helps
prevent duplication by allowing organizations to easily locate their
datasets. |
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To provide some legal
protection in the event of misuse of datasets. |
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To aid the receiving
organization/agency in understanding and interpreting the content of the
datasets, and to allow them to update their data catalogue(s). |
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To inform a potential
user how the data was collected, for what purpose and if any specific
parameters were used. This would allow a potential user to gauge whether it
would be suitable for his/her purposes. |
Useful
links for guidance on the creation and use of metadata:
CPACC Metadata Workbook
This workbook was prepared primarily to assist persons with the preparation of
metadata, for the Geospatial Data Clearinghouse Mechanism. It takes you through
the steps of entering the data, parsing the metadata records, indexing and
testing the parsed metadata records and finally provides some guidance on
registering with the Clearinghouse Mechanism to make the metadata records
searchable over the Internet. In addition it gives an overview of additional
metadata creation tools, both commercial and free, that are available.
http://www.cpacc.org/download/Metadata%20Workbook.pdf
St.
Lucia Metadata Workshop
Report from the first metadata workshop sponsored by the Caribbean Planning for
the Adaptation to Global Climate Change (CPACC) project held in September of
1999. Following the workshop, the twelve countries involved in the CPACC project
were required to submit metadata records for spatial datasets in their
possession and any new spatial datasets created.
http://www.cpacc.org/ifownframe.htm
For
more resources on metadata use and creation see the “Training”
page on this website.
A clearinghouse is a collection of servers that allow anyone to search for
metadata on datasets over the web. To search the clearinghouse sites a person
would go to a website and access the page with the search form. The person would
then choose the appropriate options and enter a keyword to search for (e.g.
water quality, Leguan, forest, etc.). The request would be sent to the 'gateway'
which would search all the nodes (or the ones specified by the user) for the keyword(s) and any other parameter specified in the search form and returns the
results to the web client (normally a web browser such as Netscape
Navigator/Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer). The user can then view
the details of the metadata record.
Links to
clearinghouses on environment and sustainable development topics on the net:
CEPNET
Spatial Data Clearinghouse
Through the creation, maintenance and distribution of metadata over this
internet data clearinghouse, CEPNET hopes to facilitate the discovery and access
of data by policy makers, resource managers, educators, the general public and
others.
http://www.cep.unep.org/search/search.html
Climate Action Network
(CAN)
This is a global network of over 287 Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced
climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. CAN members work to achieve
this goal through the coordination of information exchange and NGO strategy on
international, regional and national climate issues.
http://www.climatenetwork.org/
Climate Ark
A climate change and renewable energy portal containing links to data centers,
documents, and thought pieces on climate change issues around the world.
http://www.climateark.org/
EROS Data Center Earth
Explorer
Is host to the United Nations Environment Programme / Global Resource
Information Database (UNEP/GRID) North American Clearinghouse Node. This node is
one of numerous nodes participating in the Federal Geographic Data Committee's (FGDC)
Clearinghouse Activity, and includes metadata for CPACC. Satellite images,
aerial photographs, and cartographic products are available for order at this
site through the U.S. Geological Survey.
http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/EarthExplorer/
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An inventory can serve a
number of useful functions, but principally the following: |
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A useful preliminary planning instrument for assessing
overall development potential |
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A means of identifying groups of potentially compatible (and
incompatible) uses, which is critical for resource use allocation; |
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A ‘checklist’ to which
other potential uses may be added, as the need arises. This is an
acknowledgment that the ‘resources’ and ‘uses’ listed in the inventory are
not finite, but can change over time, as a country’s development goals,
interests and priorities shift. |
Additional information on
the use of inventories in information management:
The
Regional Training Workshop on Methodologies for Coastal Inventories &
Information Management
This report by Dr Leonard Nurse, at the time Director of the Coastal Zone
Management Unit in Barbados. An inventory of coastal resources and use provides
an initial basis and critical first-order tool for practicing integrated coastal
management.
http://www.cpacc.org/download/CoastInv_InfoMan/appendixvii.pdf
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