Making Useful Metadata
When completing the metadata record, there are both required and non-required fields. The table below will help to define some of the fields that can be completed in a metadata record and provide suggestions on how to best complete this with your end-users in mind.
- Mandatory fields are marked with an *.
- Not all fields are included for each resource type. For a full list see the table here:
| Data Element | Example(s) | Recommendations |
|---|---|---|
| Dataset | ||
| State * | DRAFT, PENDING PUBLISH, PUBLISHED, PENDING ARCHIVE, PENDING ARCHIVE | This changes the state of the publication workflow. By changing a state a email notification will be sent to either the catalogue admin that they have an action, e.g., PENDING PUBLISH will inform them the record is ready to be reviewed and published; PUBLISHED will inform all the editors of that branch that it has been published. |
| Title * | should be written in a way the general public can understand | Recommend to not include organization or program names in titles as these may change over time. Unless there is no other way to distinguish a dataset from another of similar title. For records that will include multiple years, do not include the year in the title. |
| URL * | This is the title url of the metadata | Will be auto-populated based on the title. If the title includes a parentheses at the end then recommend removing this from the URL. |
| Organization * | Ministry of Citizen Services | This is the higher level organization responsible for the items described in the metadata. |
| Sub-Organization * | DataBC | I.s the custodial organization responsible for data or items. This is usually set as the Branch and is under the authority of a Director or Executive Director |
| Description * | detailed description about the data | If there is a acronym, always spell out the name in full and then include the acronym in parentheses, e.g., Broad Ecosystem Inventory (BEI). |
| Purpose | summary of the intentions for which the dataset was developed | Include more information about a record will aid users and allow for more self serve of information. |
| Data Quality | descriptive text that can include info about issues, completeness, consistency, etc. | Include more information about a record will aid users and allow for more self serve of information. |
| Lineage Statement | information about the events or source data used in constructing the data | Include more information about a record will aid users and allow for more self serve of information. |
| More Info | supporting url(s) | Links should be added to provide more information a user can go to. These should use https:// instead of http://. For pages within the BC Gov webpages, if possible, the permalinks should be used as this allows the pages to move around but the links will not become broken. At the bottom right is a gray icon with an arrow pointing to the right. Click this and then click the Copy button. |
| Keywords * | searchable term(s) | Are important words related to a dataset and can include common words, phrases or acronyms. |
| ISO Topic Category | boundaries | For more information |
| Data Element | Example(s) | Recommendations |
| Contact | ||
| Name * | contact’s first and last name | This may a name for a generic inbox. |
| Email * | someone@somewhere.ca | This may be the email of a generic inbox. |
| Organization * | Ministry of Citizen Services | The organization or ministry the contact is from. |
| Sub-Organization * | DataBC | The sub-organization, branch or program area the contact is from. |
| Role * | pointOfContact | Most often this is set to pointOfContact. Custodian is reserved for the Director or a Executive Director of a branch. |
| Contact Displayed * | Yes | Set to Yes when the contact is to be visible to the public. No, allows the contact to only be visible when logged in. |
| Data Currency / Update | — | — |
| Resource Status * | planned | Describes the state of the data. Choose the most relevant Resource Status and Date Type that best matches the currency of the data. Multiple dates can be added to track the progress of the data. |
| Data Type * | Created, Published | |
| Date * | YYYY-MM-DD | |
| Access & Security | ||
| Who can view this data? * | Public | This is intended to be who can view the data in a web application. For data in the BCGW, this refers to the security applied in iMapBC. If there is a desire to change the iMapBC security setting, please open a ticket with the Data Systems & Services request system, as changing it in the metadata record will not apply the change at the application level. |
| Who can view this record? * | Public | This allows a provider to make a metadata record visible only when logged in, i.e., IDIR. |
| Who can download this data? * | Public | This is intended to be who can download the data. For data in the BCGW, this refers to the security applied in the Distribution Service. If there is a desire to change the distribution security setting, please open a ticket with the Data Systems & Services request system, as changing it in the metadata record will not apply the change at the application level. |
| Who can access this application? * | Public | Required |
| Licence * | Open Government Licence - British Columbia | This is very important as it determines how the data can be used |
| Security Classification * | LOW-PUBLIC | Describes how secure the data is. See the Security Classification Standard |
| Preview Information | ||
| Layer name | Name of the layer for preview | This is auto-populated when a BCGW dataset is made available through public WMS |
| Preview latitude | Latitude of layer for preview | This is auto-populated when a BCGW dataset is made available through public WMS |
| Preview longitude | Longitude of layer for preview | This is auto-populated when a BCGW dataset is made available through public WMS |
| Preview map service URL | URL of map service for preview | This is auto-populated when a BCGW dataset is made available through public WMS |
| Preview zoom level | Zoom level for preview | This is auto-populated when a BCGW dataset is made available through public WMS |
| Image URL | _URL for non map service images | |
| Link to iMap | This link is auto-populated when a BCGW dataset is publicly visible in iMapBC | |
| Geographic extent | ||
| North | 60.0 | This is the bounding box of the province and auto-populated for Geographic type resources |
| South | 48.0 | This is the bounding box of the province and auto-populated for Geographic type resources. |
| East | -113.5 | This is the bounding box of the province and auto-populated for Geographic type resources. |
| West | -139.5 | This is the bounding box of the province and auto-populated for Geographic type resources. |
| Spatial Datatype | SDO_GEOMETRY | N/A |
| Object Description | ||
| Object Name | schema.table(view) | This is use by Services tied to the BCGW. This must be written identically as what is in the database and ensure that there are hidden spaces at the end. |
| Column Name | This is use by Services tied to the BCGW | |
| Short Name | This is uneditable and auto-populated from metadata in the BCGW | |
| Data Type | This is uneditable and auto-populated from metadata in the BCGW | |
| Data Precision | This is uneditable and auto-populated from metadata in the BCGW | |
| Comments | This is uneditable and auto-populated from metadata in the BCGW |