Does your company make use of metadata?

[SarcasticDwarf]

I am working on paper and trying to make sure my assumptions are correct.

If your company uses metadata (if you don't know what this is, stop now), do you follow any kind of standard metadata scheme, or do you use your own custom one? Also, an industry sector if you do use metadata would be appreciated.

Well the standard simple definition of metadata is "data about data". I would limit it to be "a set of attributes about physical or electronic objects whose primary purpose is to aid in findability." So in an e-commerce situation it would be the model number, categories, color, size, etc of items for sale. I am mainly interested in those that use it for websites (public or private).

 

[theflyingpig]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
(if you don't know what this is, stop now)

oh, ok.

 

[FP]

Yes, we do.

Standardized metadata is the only worthwhile metadata.

 

[sdifox]

my company's founder does not use a computer...

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: FP
Yes, we do.

Standardized metadata is the only worthwhile metadata.

What metadata standard do you follow?

 

[fisheerman]

Most all companies will preach that you establish metadata and keep up with it.

Does anyone use it? Yeh and No.

Most of the time you will see it sited in presentation or when someone is doing some kind of statistical comparison.

Metadata is usually an afterthought and is never a priorty until it is needed for something other than day to day use.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: fisheerman
Most all companies will preach that you establish metadata and keep up with it.

Does anyone use it? Yeh and No.

Most of the time you will see it sited in presentation or when someone is doing some kind of statistical comparison.

Metadata is usually an afterthought and is never a priorty until it is needed for something other than day to day use.

That is the impresison I have gotten. The only established metadata standards I have run across deal only with libraries except FGDC which is for GIS. It seems like every company just does their own metadata without any standard or creates their own internal standard.

 

[fisheerman]

I think a lot has to do with the availablity of high quality data in a more rapid fashion.

In the early days you would create a dataset and it would be there for years.

Now it seems that most datasets are changing daily and the entire data layers are redone yearly.

Metadata has kinda taken a back set to data on demand.

-fish

 

[bunker]

FGDC

Yes, I'm in a GIS shop 🙂

 

[Q]

Originally posted by: sdifox
my company's founder does not use a computer...

That's 1337

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: bunker
FGDC

Yes, I'm in a GIS shop 🙂

Sweet😛 Happen to be doing anything with the Arc portal software? My organization has been rolling out a new version of it.

Ugg, and that reminds me, have the ArcGIS II course M-W this week *sigh*

 

[Evadman]

yes, non-standard.

 

[SandEagle]

dublin core

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

bump

 

[XZeroII]

Please define metadata. That is a very ambiguous word. I do software consulting/development and that word can mean different things in different contexts.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
Please define metadata. That is a very ambiguous word. I do software consulting/development and that word can mean different things in different contexts.

Well the standard simple definition of metadata is "data about data". I would limit it to be "a set of attributes about physical or electronic objects whose primary purpose is to aid in findability." So in an e-commerce situation it would be the model number, categories, color, size, etc of items for sale. I am mainly interested in those that use it for websites (public or private).

 

[XZeroII]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf

Originally posted by: XZeroII
Please define metadata. That is a very ambiguous word. I do software consulting/development and that word can mean different things in different contexts.

Well the standard simple definition of metadata is "data about data". I would limit it to be "a set of attributes about physical or electronic objects whose primary purpose is to aid in findability." So in an e-commerce situation it would be the model number, categories, color, size, etc of items for sale. I am mainly interested in those that use it for websites (public or private).

Ah, then no. We don't use standardized metadata. We're rebels.

 

[ivan2]

yes. the dba decides the standard so i suppose it falls into the "custom" category.

 

[wiredspider]

Not that I know of, but we probably do and the developers come up with it....

 

[bunker]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf

Originally posted by: bunker
FGDC

Yes, I'm in a GIS shop 🙂

Sweet😛 Happen to be doing anything with the Arc portal software? My organization has been rolling out a new version of it.

I'm gonna say no as I've never heard of Arc portal. It sounds like something custom coded wherever you are.
I just administer ArcSDE, ArcGIS Server and ArcIMS. I try not to play cartographer.
I'm the one that has to load the feature classes and I don't load anything without a certain amount of the fgdc fields filled in.

 

[Goosemaster]

Not consistently 🙁