A geospatial metadata content standard is a common set of terms and definitions that describe geospatial data. Conforming to a standard is important to ensure that everyone can find, understand and share data by comparing and evaluating common details of the data. A metadata standard outlines the characteristic properties to be recorded, as well as the values the properties should have. Such standardization of the vocabulary makes information sharing more reliable and universal.

The CGDI endorses two metadata content standards: FGDC CSDGM and ISO 19115.

The United States' Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) 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. This standard is also flexible enough to describe non-digital geographic information.

Organized in 1990, the FGDC is an interagency committee that promotes the coordinated use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data not only in the United States but also around the world.

The FGDC content standard is organized in a hierarchy of data fields and compound fields that define the information content for metadata so as to document digital geospatial data.

The intent is not to centralize all geographic data in one location, but to provide links through the Internet to distributed sites where data is produced or maintained.

You can access the complete specification of the FGDC CSDGM from http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/.

Standards in action

Anna and her friends are planning a hiking trip and need a topopgraphic map of the area in which they want to hike.

To prepare for the trip, Anna:

Goes to the GeoConnections Discovery Portal at http://geodiscover.cgdi.ca to find a topographic map. She selects Data and in the keyword search she types in:

topographic + map

Anna examines the data search results by viewing the metadata descriptions and selects the entry that best suits her needs.

• Can get in touch with the metadata contact, whose coordinates are contained in the metadata record, if she requires further information about the dataset.
  
  
• Can obtain the data she is interested in by looking in the metadata entry under “Distribution Information”.