• Value of Using Standards
  
• The Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM)
  
  • CSDGM Resources
    
  • CSDGM Profiles and Extensions
    
• The North American Profile (NAP) of the ISO 19115: Geographic Information - Metadata
  
  • Status of the North American Profile (NAP)
    
  • Preparing for the North American Profile (NAP)
    
  • North American Profile (NAP) Resources
    
  • Purchasing the North American Profile (NAP)

• Other FGDC-endorsed Geospatial Metadata Standards
• Which Metadata Standard Should I Use?
  
  

Value of Using Standards

The more standardized the structure and content of information, the more effectively it can be used by both humans and machines. A metadata standard is simply a common set of terms and definitions that are presented in a structured format.

The Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM)

The Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM), Vers. 2 (FGDC-STD-001-1998) is the current US Federal Metadata standard. The FGDC originally adopted the CSDGM in 1994 and revised it in 1998. According to Executive Order 12096, all Federal agencies are ordered to use this standard to document geospatial data created as of January 1995. The standard is often referred to as the 'FGDC Metadata Standard' and has been implemented beyond the federal level with State and local governments adopting the metadata standard as well.

CSDGM Resources

• CSDGM Workbook - The CSDGM Workbook is a user-friendly view of the standard that includes background on the development of the standard, explanations of special format requirements, example values, FAQs, and sample metadata. This workbook is highly recommended for use in all introductory metadata training and as a desktop reference guide.
• CSDGM Graphical Representation - This set of color-coded diagrams developed by Susan Stitt of the USGS Biological Resources Division provides a graphical representation of each section of the CSDGM, the elements contained within the section and the conditionality of the elements.
• CSDGM Document Type Declaration - An XML Document Type Definition (DTD) file developed by Peter N. Schweitzer (U.S. Geological Survey) for validating XML-encoded metadata against the FGDC's core standard.
• CSGDM XML Schema Document representations for validating XML-encoded metadata against the FGDC's core standard.
  

• CSDGM Standard - This is the official technical specification of the CSDGM Standard. This document is recommended for those familiar with the nomenclature of standards technical documentation and those developing metadata creation and publication software applications.
• CSDGM HTML Version - The CSDGM Standard technical specification expressed as HTML
  

CSDGM Profiles and Extensions

A key feature of the CSDGM Version 2 is the ability of geospatial data communities to customize the base CSDGM. Extensions are a set of added elements that extend the standard to better serve the community or data type. Profiles are custom adaptations of the standard that may specify specific domain values for existing CSDGM elements and/or increase conditionality of a specific element. Profiles may also included extensions.

FGDC Endorsed Extensions to the CSDGM Version 2 (FGDC-STD-001-1998):

• Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata: Extensions for Remote Sensing Metadata - Extended elements to support the documentation of geospatial data directly obtained from remote sensing. This extension includes elements that describe the remote sensing platform and sensors. This extension is intended for the documentation of data collected directly from the sensor. It is not intended for the documentation of data derived from remotely sensed data such as classified imagery. The core CSDGM standard should be used to document derived data.
  

FGDC Endorsed Profiles of the CSDGM Version 2 (FGDC-STD-001-1998):

• Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata - The profile broadens the application of the CSDGM so that it is more easily applied to data that are not explicitly geographic (laboratory results, field notes, specimen collections, research reports) but can be associated with a geographic location. The profile changes the conditionality and domains of CSDGM elements, requires the use of a specified taxonomical vocabulary, and adds elements.
  

• Metadata Profile for Shoreline Data - The profile addresses variability in the definition and mapping of shorelines by providing a standardized set of terms and data elements required to support metadata for shoreline and coastal data sets. The profile also includes a glossary and bibliography.
  

The North American Profile (NAP) of the ISO 19115: Geographic Information - Metadata

The international community, through the International Organization of Standards (ISO), has developed and approved an international metadata standard, ISO 19115 – Geographic Information Metadata. As a member of ISO, the US participated in the development of ISO 19115 and has coordinated with Canada to develop the North American Profile (NAP) of ISO 19115.

In the same way that the existing FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) codified geospatial data documentation for the U.S. geospatial data community in 1994, the NAP extends standardization across national borders. In addition, the NAP provides the following features:

• fewer mandatory elements and more optional elements
• extended elements and new elements to capture more specific information
• a hierarchical structure that creates ‘packages’ of metadata that can be reused and combined to form new metadata records
• support for the documentation of new geospatial data topologies and technologies including geodatabases, web mapping applications, data models, data portals, ontologies, etc.
• suggested best practices for populating metadata elements in a manner that enhances the quality and usefulness of the metadata.
  

Status of the North American Profile (NAP)

The North American Profile (NAP) of ISO 19115: Geographic Information - Metadata was formally adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in June of 2009. However, work continues on the NAP to more fully integrate the geospatial database documentation specified by a related standard, ISO 19110: Geographic Information: Feature Catalogue. Once complete, the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) will process the NAP as a Federal standard and promote implementation to the geospatial community.

• July 2009 FGDC press release regarding NAP

Preparing for the North American Profile (NAP)

As stated earlier, the NAP is a national (ANSI) standard. As such, it is up to individual organizations to determine if the standard supports their mission and objectives and if it is in their best interest to adopt the standard. The FGDC promotes the adoption of the NAP as a Federal standard and, if adopted, nonfederal organizations will be obligated, as with the CSDGM, to create NAP compliant metadata if they apply Federal funds to the development of geospatial data. 

A transition guidance document, Preparing for International Metadata: North American Profile of ISO 19115: Geographic Information – Metadata provides an overview of the NAP and provides specific guidance on preparing for the transition. Agencies are strongly encouraged to download and review this document.

One important step outlined in the transition guide, is the addition of ISO 19115 Topic Categories to the Theme Keywords of existing CSDGM metadata records. Topic Categories is one of a handful of NAP mandatory elements that require new information not currently captured within CSDGM metadata records.

This set of 19 high-level subject categories provides a standardized means of quickly sorting and accessing thematic information. To aid in the transition to NAP metadata, you are encouraged to include one or more of the Topic Categories terms, as presented below (funny truncation and capitalization and all), as Theme_Keywords within your current CSDGM metadata. More guidance about the use of Dataset Topic Category as CSDGM Theme_Keywords is provided in Preparing for International Metadata guide referenced above and the Metadata Quick Guide (see Theme_Keywords).

Additional guidance documents similar in scope to the CSDGM Workbook, are currently under development and will include a graphical representation of the NAP and detailed explanations of the NAP structure, individual elements and best practices. In addition, GIS vendors and Federal Agencies are actively developing new applications to transform, create, validate, publish and distribute NAP metadata. With these resources in hand, geospatial data and service providers can be fully prepared to update and enhance their geospatial metadata to better support data management, discovery, distribution, application and archive both within, and external to, their organization.

North American Profile Resources

Documents and Presentations

• Preparing for International Metadata – Transition guidance document, October 2011 [PDF 407KB]
• North American Profile Development for ISO – NSDI Training Program lesson (PPT), March 2008 

Transforms and Other Applications

• ISO Metadata Editor Review Feature information collected from developers and users about available ISO 19115 Metadata Editors
• CSDGM to NAP Transforms - a NOAA sponsored collaborative effort to build transforms (XSLTs) for the conversion of CSDGM metadata (including the Biological Profile and Remote Sensing Extension) to NAP
  
• CSDGM2ISO - CSDGM to ISO 19115 Element Crosswalk developed by Intergraph as part of the NSDI Cooperative Grants Program, September 2006
  
  

Purchasing the North American Profile (NAP)

The formal standard is an American Standards Institute (ANSI) copyrighted publication and therefore must be purchased. The FGDC is working with ANSI to allow the reproduction of some materials for use in instructional and guidance materials to support transition, content comprehension and implementation. These documents will be similar in nature to the current CSDGM Workbook.

The document can be purchased as a digital PDF download directly from ANSI at: http://webstore.ansi.org/RecordDetail.aspx?sku=INCITS+453-2009
Digital PDFs and hard copy documents are available from Techstreet at: http://www.techstreet.com/standards/INCITS/453_2009?product_id=1632686

Other FGDC-endorsed Geospatial Metadata Standards

In September of 2010, the FGDC Steering Committee endorsed 64 non-Federally authored standards that play an important role in enabling geospatial interoperability. Many of these endorsed standards relate to geospatial metadata and include:

• North American Profile (NAP) of ISO 19115
• ISO 19110: Geographic information - Methodology for Feature Cataloguing
  Defines a methodology for cataloging feature types and provides the Entity/Attribute descriptions  that are currently not included in ISO 19115 or the NAP
• ISO 19115 – 2: Geographic information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for imagery and gridded data
  Added content for ISO 19115 that supports the documentation of imagery, gridded data and other remotely sensed data such as monitoring stations.
• ISO 19119: Geographic information - Services - Amendment 1: Extensions of the service metadata model
  Added content for ISO 19115 that supports the documentation of information services associated (coupled) with geospatial data including geospatial data portals, web mapping applications, data models and online data processing services.
• ISO 19139: Geographic information -- Metadata -- XML schema implementation
  An XML document that specifies the format and general content of an ISO 19115 the metadata record.
• Several OpenGIS® standards that codify the documentation of content associates with Web Mapping, Web Processing and Catalogue services.

More information about these standards is available from the FGDC Endorsed External Standards page on the FGDC website.

Which Metadata Standard Should I Use?

The current array of geospatial metadata standards and variations of standards has left the community somewhat bewildered as to which geospatial metadata standard/variant they should be utilizing. At this time the FGDC recommends that:

organizations currently using the CSDGM metadata standard remain to do so unless there is some compelling reason to change standards.

The FGDC makes this recommendation based upon:

• Continued evolution of ISO-related geospatial metadata standards:
  • NAP revisions to expand entity/attribute descriptions based upon ISO 19110: Feature Catalog
  • Significant changes to ISO 19115 as part of the current Five Year Review
  • Changes to ISO 19139 resulting from the ISO 19115 Five Year Review.
• Lack of resources to adequately support ISO-related geospatial metadata implementation:
  • Guidance and reference documents
  • Training materials
  • Data management and distribution portals
  • Community expertise.

Reasons why an organization may want to implement ISO-related geospatial metadata standards:

• Heavy emphasis on the documentation of remotely sensed or gridded imagery that is strongly supported by ISO  19115-2
• Active participation in the development of data with another country/region that actively utilized ISO 19115
• Initiation of a data management program that requires the creation of metadata for data resources not previously documented.

The FGDC is working closely with NOAA and GeoData.gov to develop the resources necessary to support ISO related metadata implementation. NOAA’s National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC) Metadata and XML website provides a robust set of transformations that can convert CSDGM metadata (including the Remote Sensing and Biological profiles) to both ISO 19115, NAP and ISO 19110 (Feature Catalog) formats. However, until the shifting sands of the geospatial metadata standard landscape firm, FGDC encourages NSDI stakeholders to educate themselves about changes to the standard via this website, the Preparing for International Metadata guidance document, FGDC Metadata Working Group participation and participation in draft standard and material public reviews.