Recreating the Wheel
Anyone charged with producing a product that uses and/or produces spatial data knows that the first step is to look for any existing data that may complement or overlap the goal of that project. The object of this is to save time and money, right? What better way to do this, than todocument the data you produce, so that next year when you extend the project, you know what you already have produced or acquired and can reuse it if necessary.
Why produce and share the metadata?
-Documenting data is part of the scientific process and is often required for reporting
-Makes data available and visible to others
-Encourages others to share so you can access and rely on their data as well
-Federal agencies, organizations who produce data for federal agencies, and soon academia are
required and federally mandated to produce FGDC compliant metadata
-Maintain a database of information on the organization's geospatial inholdings and be able to search other metadata clearinghouses.
Metadata Benefits
There is value to metadata at all levels, data developers, data users and organizations.
Value to Data
Developers
-Avoids duplication
-Shares reliable information
-Publicizes efforts
-Reduces workload
-Documenting data is critical to preserving its usefulness over time; without proper
documentation, no data set is complete.
Value to Data Users
-Makes it possible for data users to search, retrieve, and evaluate data set information
both inside and outside organizations
-Finding data: determine which data exist for a geographic location and/or topic
-Applicability: determine if a dataset meets your needs
-Access and Transfer: acquire the dataset you identified
-Data use-how data can be used; if it has restricted use, etc.
Value to Organizations
-Organizes and maintains an organization's investment in data
-Provides for the documentation of data processing steps, quality control, definitions,
data uses and restrictions, etc.
-Transcends people and time; offers data permanence and creates institutional
memory
-Saves time, money, frustration
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