Acquiring  GIS  Data: Utah

Metadata:

The word 'meta' appended to a few of the above directories represents metadata, which is data about the GIS data.  In the directories that end with ‘meta’ you will find the associated metadata that describes additional information about the spatial datasets.  For example, the projection, who created these data, and/or additional information about quality and completeness.  This information usually contains the following information:

• Identification_Information

• Data_Quality_Information

• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information

• Spatial_Reference_Information

• Entity_and_Attribute_Information

• Distribution_Information

• Metadata_Reference_Information

•  

Double click on the ST500_meta directory.

Results: ( sgid_metadata ) 

AGRC gives the user two options for download, either a text file or an html file. 

Double click on the aocbo.html file,

Results: ( sgid_aocbo_metadata )

In the browser that pops up explore the metadata file by choosing a few of the links.   After exploring, close the aocbo.html browser and in the other browser choose the back button to return to the ‘sgid’ directory. 

Metadata information is critical to the overall quality of any derived product.  For further information regarding metadata see the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) web site at ( http://www.fgdc.gov ), and then choose the standards link on the left.  

Documentation is an essential element of any GIS project and should not be overlooked.  A project is only as good as the worst metadata.  If you cannot document where a certain dataset originated and rehearse the history of its existence as well as the quality and completeness, as it applies to the standards for this type of data, the project information is of little use, other than a nice map.  In other words, be sure to obtain the metadata for all datasets you use in any project.  Document everything. 

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