A2.5 How to Register and Promote Your Data Product
You can register and promote your data product with the GeoConnections Discovery Portal by entering information in an online form. When the form is submitted, the information is added to the GeoConnections Discovery Portal's catalogue. Users can then perform a search though the GeoConnections Discovery Portal to find your data product.
In addition, your data product promotion page can contain a link to a database search server, which allows users to search the database directly for individual data products, once the necessary connections are made. Users can then find any individual datasets, map sheets, images, reports, and other data product information that you want to make available. Installing a search server and allowing remote searching via the Internet makes your database "searchable".
Registering your data product gives you total control over your content. The promotion page should describe the data product in detail, using keywords, geographical location, etc. The data products contained in the GeoConnections GeoConnections Discovery Portal follow the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee's approved Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC CSDGM). This standard provides a consistent approach and format for the description of data characteristics. It was chosen for its quality, popularity of use, established support, as well as for the tools that have been and are continuing to be created. Note that there are a few fields in the data product registration promotion form that also make the product metadata compatible with the ISO 19115 core profile.
There are metadata fields describing specific geospatial attribute information, such as the time period that your data covers and spatial and thematic keywords. There are approximately 270 fields; of these, about 50 must be completed, and depending on your data product the remaining fields may or may not apply. The main metadata information categories for data products are as follows:
- Identification information;
- Data quality information;
- Spatial data organization information;
- Entity and attribute information;
- Distribution information;
- Metadata reference information; and
- Spatial reference information;.
The Mandatory Information section is a summary of metadata information fields required for completion. You can submit the form with just the "Name of the Product Collection" completed, but the content management team will not let your entry pass quality control until all the required fields are completed (or until you provide a reasonable explanation for the fields that are not completed).
You may create or update your registration and/or promotion page for free at any time over the Internet; all that is required is a web browser, Internet access, a GeoConnections Discovery Portal user name and password. From time to time, you will be notified by email to update your registration and promotion details; this feature ensures that metadata in the GeoConnections Discovery Portal is current.
A2.5.1 Data Product Best Practices
To help guide you, please refer to the following examples of "best practices" of data products registered in the GeoConnections Discovery Portal.
The Canadian Ice Service has several datasets registered and promoted in, and connected to, the GeoConnections Discovery Portal that enable users to search for and order ice charts.
To access these datasets go to the GeoConnections Discovery Portal http://geodiscover.cgdi.ca/gdp/search?action=searchForm&entryType=productCollection, enter "ice" as a keyword, then select Search. The results returned will include datasets such as:
- - Canadian Ice Service Daily Analysis Ice Charts
- - Canadian Ice Service Standard Ice Climate Products
Select the checkboxes to the right of these titles, then select Search Databases. The GeoConnections Discovery Portal connects to the databases to search for individual data products. When the search is finished, select View Results.
Each result will have a "thumbnail" (or small) image, and its footprint (an outline of the area of interest) will be displayed in the index map. You can retrieve the detailed metadata for the data product by selecting Details, or the access service from the supplier can be invoked by selecting the Access button. Once Access is selected, users are passed to the supplier's site (the Canadian Ice Service), which provides more details for the selected product, and a mechanism to order the selected product.
The CCRS North American Landsat-7 ETM Archive is another example of a highly functional connected database. The search form for this data product enables users to search using the Landsat-7 reference geometry (path and row). The search form is available at:
A2.5.2 Registering Your Data Product
To register your data product, follow these 6 steps:
| 1. |
Go to the GeoConnections Discovery Portal web site at http://geodiscover.cgdi.ca
and select the Add or Update Your Content link in the home page.
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| 2. |
Log in using an existing username and password if you have one, or select Register to create a new user account. If you are already logged-in, this page will not appear.
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| 3. |
Select the Products link.
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| 4. |
You will now be provided with a list of all data products under your ownership. If you have just registered as a new user, you will not have any. If this is the case, select Create New Data Product.
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| 5. |
Enter the required information using the example in A2.5.3, Recommended Metadata Fields for Data Products, as a guide.
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| 6. |
After you have saved a data product for the first time, you can use the Add/Edit Associations button (see A2.5.5, Adding/Editing Associations for Data Products) to create associations, or you can use the Add/Edit Search Service button to add details for connected search servers for the database (in order to make your database searchable through the GeoConnections Discovery Portal).
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If you need help, select Help/FAQ on the GeoConnections Discovery Portal menu bar at the top of the web page; then, in the new page that opens, select Tutorial. The tutorial explains the entire procedure.
A2.5.3 Recommended Metadata Fields for Data Products
The following example illustrates the mandatory metadata fields that you must complete when you register a data product.
Helpful tips:
 | The fields in red (in the manual) are mandatory and must be completed. |
| The remaining fields and information sections are valuable and important and it is recommended that they be completed, but they are optional. |
| Throughout the online form you will repeatedly see the symbol . Click on this symbol to link you to the relevant help information for each topic. It will describe what is required for each line item. |
MANDATORY INFORMATION
This section retrieves and incorporates the mandatory information from the FGDC metadata information categories for data products.
Name of the Product Collection
The title should include Canada and/or the province or geographic region of the dataset (i.e. National Forestry Database - Forest Inventory, Canada).
There is a preference for the title to include just ", Canada" for ease of translation.
Temporal information (i.e. year) is acceptable and welcomed but the title should also reflect the content, theme and location of the data collection.
Although the system can handle more than 160 characters, other systems are known to truncate data product titles that have more than 160 characters after export from the GeoConnections Discovery Portal.
Acronym
Some data products are better known by their acronym rather than their full title. If this is the situation, or if you want to encourage use of an acronym, this is an excellent field to consider.
While this field is listed as mandatory, you may leave it blank if there is no acronym for your data product.
This is not an FGDC field.
Country of Origin
This field is used to identify the country of origin for a particular service. The default is set to Canada, however, a list of countries is available by opening the drop down menu.
This is not an FGDC field.
Originator
The name of the Originator is usually an organization such as a provincial government, federal government, or commercial organization. For federal government departments, Treasury Board guidelines specify that the hierarchical naming convention be used. For example: Government of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Terrain Sciences Division.
Sometimes, if the originator is a person, then that person's name should be listed. If the name of editors or compilers are provided, the names must be followed by "(ed.)" or "(comp.)" respectively.
For the federal government, "(ed.)" or "(comp.)" information should be placed in the Other Citation Details field and the federal government and sector/departments listed under Originator.
Time Period of Content
| Example: | Beginning Date (YYYY-MM-DD): 1991-01-01
Ending Date (YYYY-MM-DD): present |
You are strongly encouraged to include the year, month, and day for the beginning and ending date, although just the first year and last year of the event are acceptable using FGDC standard definitions.
The word "Unknown" is acceptable for both the beginning and end date as well as the word "Present" for the ending date.
Online Linkage
Online Linkage is the name of an online computer resource that contains the dataset. This is generally a URL such as http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/info/cgndb_e.php.
There may not always be an online linkage URL available when you register a data product.
Geospatial Data Presentation Form (Product Type)
From the menu of options which are listed below, select at least one of the Geospatial Data Presentation Form items that best describes your product:
Atlas, Audio, Diagram, Digital, Document, Film, Globe, In-situ Measurement, Map (Digital Elevation Model, Geopolitical Map, Thematic Map, Topographic Map), Model, Multimedia Presentation, Navigational Chart (Aeronautical Chart, Nautical Chart), Paper, Photo, Raster Digital Data, Remote sensing data (Airborne, Spaceborne), Section, Spreadsheet, Study, Tabular Digital Data, Vector Digital Data, Video, View
Description
For the Description, you must use proper sentence structure, grammar, and spelling and, most importantly provide a good description of your data collection. Description lengths will vary.
You can also use the Clean Up Text button here to clear ragged edges or tags from text that you have cut and pasted into this field from different sources (i.e. the Web).
Abstract
The statements you make in the Abstract field must be in agreement with the responses you make in other fields.
Always give the full form of acronyms the first time you use them, and include the abbreviation in parentheses.
For example: Canada's Forest Inventory 1981 (CanFI81).
Purpose
You must use proper sentence structure, grammar, and spelling when describing why your data product was created or developed. Purpose statements are generally short. The previous helpful tips for Abstract also apply here for Purpose.
Bounding Coordinates
The bounding coordinates must reflect coverage for the area under discussion.
To determine or select the coordinates you can use one of the following options: select from the drop down menu, draw the region on a map, look up the postal code, find the place by name or enter the coordinates in the boxes provided.
Once you have published your product information, you can examine the coordinates on the map provided in the short form of the metadata entry. This will ensure that you have selected the correct geographical extent (bounding coordinates) for your data product.
Theme Keywords
For theme keywords, we recommend using more than one Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) keyword string from its theme keyword thesaurus.
The keyword string must include a minimum of three levels.
For example: Earth Science > Cryosphere > Snow/Ice. Simply entering Earth Science > Cryosphere is not acceptable when transferring to the GCMD since it only goes down to two levels.
Self-generated keywords that scientists use in their field are encouraged and are acceptable. These may be typed into the text box.
When populating a French data product it is best to use the French interface as the menu or keyword options will then be offered in French.
Place Keywords
Using the GCMD international place keyword list, Canadian entries should generally have the following place keywords:
Northern Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
Mid-latitude
Arctic (if applicable)
Polar (if applicable)
Global Land (if applicable)
North America
Canada
When you use the noun "Canada" as a place keyword, you should also list all relevant provinces and territories and/or the Canadian Regions:
Canada > British Columbia
Canada > Alberta
Canada > Saskatchewan
Canada > Manitoba
Canada > Ontario
Canada > Quebec
Canada > New Brunswick
Canada > Nova Scotia
Canada > Prince Edward Island
Canada > Newfoundland and Labrador
Canada > Nunavut
Canada > Northwest Territories
Canada > Yukon Territory
Canadian Regions > (choose from the list provided)
The GCMD also provides a place name list for bodies of water for consideration.
As with theme keywords, self-generated place names are welcomed. These may be typed into the text box.
Fees
Under Fees, either select Free or enter an amount or dollar range. Specify the currency if it is not Canadian dollars.
"Please contact the distributor" is an acceptable phrase for the Fees field.
Network Resource Name
The Network Resource Name is the service from which the dataset can be obtained. This is typically a URL such as http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/.
There may not be a Network Resource Name when you register your data product.
Contact Information
Primary
For Contact Person, enter the first and last names of the person who is the contact for the data collection.
For Contact Organization, if your organization belongs to the federal government, please follow Treasury Board guidelines. Federal organizations are to start with the "Government of Canada", then department name and on down the organization's hierarchy.
For example: Government of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Terrain Sciences Division. All names should be written in full.
For Address Type, "Mailing and Physical Address" is the common phrase in this field. However, you may also enter "Mailing Address" or "Physical Address" here. Sometimes the mailing address will be different from the physical address i.e. the mailing address has a post office (P.O.) box whereas the physical address has a street name.
Under Province or State, enter your province or territory in full. If you enter your province or territory in French, place parentheses around the name, e.g. (Ontario).
For Postal Code/ZIP Code, enter a valid Canadian postal code (eg. K1A 0E9 ).
For Country, please spell the country name in full, i.e. Canada rather than Can.
For Contact's Telephone Number, enter the country code followed by the area code and then the telephone number. For Canada and the United States of America, the country code is written as +01. A telephone number in full would then be: +01-613-947-4213. For toll-free numbers with an 800 or an 888 area code, the +0 is dropped. The toll-free number would look like: 1-800-555-1212.
For Contact's Facsimile Telephone, please follow the same rules as for the Contact's Telephone Number, e.g. +01-613-947-4210. If you have a toll-free number, the same rules apply i.e. 1-800-555-1212.
For Contact Electronic Mail Address, follow the standard format with name of person, group, etc. followed by the @ sign and the organization and country code, e.g. firstname.surname@companyname.ca.
Contact Information
Distributor
For Distributor Contact Information, please follow the same conventions as the previous list contact fields.
There is room for more than one distributor if required by going to the Distribution Information section.
Contact Information
Metadata
You must enter the first and last name of the contact person in this field. This is the person who is responsible for the metadata (i.e. entering and updating) for the data product collection described.
The rest of the entry follows the same contact guidelines as outlined for the primary and distributor contact fields.
OPTIONAL METADATA INFORMATION CATEGORIES
The following describes some of the optional metadata information fields and sections where information may be readily available.
Click on this symbol to link you to the relevant help information for each metadata field in each information section. It will describe what is required for each line item.
1. IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION
Citation
It should be noted that the Name of the Product Collection is automatically loaded into the Title field. However, you may need to alter the title under 'Citation Information' if it is different from the name of the product collection.
| Example: |
Citation Information
Title: National Forestry Database - Forest Inventory, Canada |
Publication Information
Under Publication Place, enter city, province and country written in full, e.g. Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.
Under Publisher, enter the name of the publisher, which is generally the same as the originator. For federal government departments, please follow Treasury Board guidelines for the hierarchical naming convention.
| Example: |
Publication Place: Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Publisher: Government of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service
|
Status
Progress refers to the state of your dataset. Enter "Complete", "In work", or "Planned".
Maintenance and Update Frequency refers to the frequency with which changes and additions are made to your dataset after the initial dataset is completed. Enter one of the following:
| Continually |
Unknown |
Daily |
| As needed |
Weekly |
Irregular |
| Monthly |
None planned |
Annually |
| free text (you can provide your update frequency eg. bi-weekly) |
Access Constraints
Access Constraints refer to restrictions and legal prerequisites for accessing your dataset. These include any access constraints applied to ensure the protection of privacy or intellectual property, and any special restrictions or limitations on obtaining the dataset.
In this field the word "None" is commonly used for publicly accessible data products.
Use Constraints
Use Constraints refer to restrictions and legal prerequisites for using your dataset after access is granted. These include any use constraints applied to ensure the protection of privacy or intellectual property, and any special restrictions or limitations on using your dataset.
| Example: |
Copyright - Canadian Council of Forest Ministers 1998. The data used in these documents have been provided by the National Forestry Database Program, Canadian Council of Forest Ministers. Reproduction or future utilization is authorized as long as reference is made to the source. |
2. DATA QUALITY INFORMATION
All of the metadata fields in this section are optional, as they are specific to many different types of data. It is however recommended that you review these fields; if any fields are relevant and do apply to your data product, fill them in, as the additional information will offer greater value to users looking for data.
3. SPATIAL DATA ORGANIZATION INFORMATION
The Indirect Spatial Reference Method fields in this section is the system of objects used to represent space in the dataset. The domain can be "Point", "Vector" or "Raster".
4 ENTITY AND ATTRIBUTE INFORMATION
All of the metadata fields in this section are completely optional. Some or all may apply depending on the data product you are registering. If any fields are relevant and do apply to your data product, fill them in, as the additional information will offer greater value to users.
5. DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION
The Distribution Liability field within the Distribution Information section gives you an opportunity to provide a statement of the extent of liability that you are prepared to assume.
| Example: |
Distribution Liability: Links from the National Forestry Database site to other sites are presented as a convenience to users. The National Forestry Database Program is not responsible for the information found at these sites.
Users should also note that the National Forestry Database Program does not assume any responsibility for the quality of external products or services listed or described in such sites.
Also, please consult the 'Introduction and Background' web page (http://nfdp.ccfm.org/cp95/text_e/sect1e.htm)
for a statement of precautions in using the data. |
6. METADATA REFERENCE INFORMATION
The date for future review of your entry automatically defaults to six months. Should you want a longer or shorter time period for review of your entry, you can alter the year, month and day. The individual identified as the metadata contact will automatically be sent an email on the review date reminding him/her to confirm the metadata details.
7. SPATIAL REFERENCE INFORMATION
All of the metadata fields in this section are optional. Some or all may apply depending on the data product you are registering. If any fields are relevant and do apply to your data product, fill them in, as the additional information will offer greater value to users.
A2.5.4 Previewing, Saving and Publishing Data Product Metadata
After you enter the metadata for your data product, you can preview your entry by clicking on the Preview button, located at the top and bottom of the data product entry form. If the preview of the entry is acceptable, select Return to Form and then use the Save button to finalize the registration of your data product. Your entry will automatically be published unless the checkmark is removed to the left of the word Publish. Once it is published, your data product is being promoted.
You may save your data product entry without formally publishing the entry on the Discovery Portal. The entry will be saved and will be viewable only to the owner and any assigned editors.
To add a logo or icon, to delete, or to use the current entry as a template for a new data product, you must open the data product entry form after initially saving the entry. Opening the data product again will engage these buttons.
Helpful tips:
| The Delete button will take you through a series of steps that will remove the entire data product entry from the GeoConnections Discovery Portal. |
| To enter a logo or icon for a data product, click on the Logo/Icon button and follow the instructions. |
| To create a new data product entry, where considerable information is identical to an existing entry, use the Save As button to copy the entry and to provide a new data product name. Once you have copied and renamed the new data product, you can make additional changes to your entry. |
| Engaging the Cancel button will remove only unsaved text that has been entered into the data product entry form. |
A2.5.5 Adding/Editing Associations for Data Products
You can add associations to organizations for your data products to let users know where the data product comes from and how it is distributed. Note: The process is the same as for services. There are three types of associations that a data product may have to an organization:
| Distributor: | An organization from which the data product may be acquired or accessed. A data product may have more than one distributor. |
| Custodian: | The organization that holds the authoritative source of the data product. A data product may have only one custodian. |
| Originator: | An organization that contributed to the creation of the data product. A data product may have more than one originator. |
Any organization that you add as an association must already be registered in the GeoConnections Discovery Portal. You can only add an association to a data product that is already stored in the GeoConnections Discovery Portal's directory. This means that when you create a new data product, you must save it before you can add associations.
To add an association, select the Add/Edit Associations button (available either in the save confirmation page, or in the edit form). An Associations for Entry window will appear that will allow you to select existing GeoConnections Discovery Portal organizations and to assign any of them as a Distributor, Custodian or Originator for the data product. After identifying and entering organizations associated with your data product, click on the Submit button located in the bottom right corner of the web page. This will complete and save your association links.
A2.5.6 Adding/Editing a Search Service
After you save your data product, you can add connectivity details by selecting the Add/Edit Search Service button, which is located to the right and just above the first set of Preview and Save buttons, among others.
The following three fields are required only if you intend to make your database "searchable" through the GeoConnections Discovery Portal. Making your database searchable is the process that allows you to connect, through the Internet, one or more of your in-house database(s) and or catalogue(s) for remote searching within the CGDI. This allows users to directly search the contents of your database(s) while you maintain complete control over what information and data users can access. It also allows users to simultaneously search a group of databases that are individually located anywhere in Canada and the world. Complete details on connecting a database can be found in Section III.
Example:
Connectivity details for enhanced (Z39.50/FGDC) search:
Hostname or IP address of enhanced (Z39.50/FGDC) search server: ceolinc.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca
Port number of enhanced (Z39.50/FGDC) search server: 6675
Database name for enhanced (Z39.50/FGDC) search server: LANDSAT_5_TM_CITIES
For more help with the Search Service, contact geodiscover@ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca.