nbii and the fgdc cap grant: building metadata partnerships
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NBII and the FGDC CAP Grant: Building Metadata Partnerships. Vivian Hutchison Metadata Program Coordinator NBII/USGS. What is the NBII?. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
NBII and the FGDC CAP Grant:
Building Metadata Partnerships
Vivian Hutchison
Metadata Program Coordinator
NBII/USGS
• The NBII is a federation of biological information sources and tools to help users find biological information and to combine information from various sources
• The NBII has a biological information focus, on both geospatial and non-geospatial data
• NBII is supported by the US Geological Survey
What is the NBII?
www.nbii.gov
Background on the NBII Metadata Program
• Purchase price reduction on metadata creation tool
• Record creation assistance
• Quality Control (QC)
• Clearinghouse
• What Metadata services does NBII provide?
• Training
Background on the NBII Metadata Program
• Clearinghouse experts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (TN)
• How is the metadata program organized?
• Program Coordinator at NBII/USGS (VA)
• QC staff at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center (CO)
• Metadata creation expert (MD)
• Trainers throughout the United States
• To encourage organizations with established metadata programs to assist other organizations without resources and staff to develop innovative approaches to the implementation and service of metadata.
Federal Geographic Data Committee CAP Grant: Metadata Outreach
Category 3
www.nbii.gov
Major CAP Grant Project Partners
NatureServe
• Partnership Objective:
Conduct workshops in Basic Metadata Training and serve metadata on NBII Clearinghouse.
USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System Program
• Partnership Objective:
Update existing metadata, train staff in metadata creation, and serve metadata on the NBII Clearinghouse.
http://refuges.fws.gov
• The National Wildlife Refuge System is a network of protected areas providing essential habitat for wildlife, public recreation, and benefits to communities
• USFWS is the principal agency through which the federal government carries out its responsibility to conserve, protect, and enhance the nation’s fish and wildlife and their habitats for continuing benefit of the people
Partnership 1: USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System
Evolution of the Project: USFWS
• NBII and USFWS developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the project
• Outlined project details
• Defined responsibilities for both organizations
Early Steps:
Evolution of the Project: USFWS
• USFWS identified and prioritized:
-- other data sets in need of metadata
-- existing metadata records for national wildlife refuge (NWR) boundaries
• NBII Quality Control team:
-- began verifying NWR boundary records for FGDC standard compatibility
Evolution of the Project: USFWS
• formats of existing metadata records
• records created 4-5 years ago:
-semi-compliant metadata
-earlier versions of Metadata Parser (MP) were used to check records, but only HTML files were saved
• different documentation methods used (e.g., Arc Catalog, WordPerfect template, MetaMaker, etc.)
Issues encountered in updating existing NWR boundary metadata records:
Evolution of the Project: USFWS
Update Process
• Collaboration on creation of a metadata record template:
-- standard text for most required fields
-- placeholders inserted for elements that change from refuge to refuge
• USFWS converted all html files to text
-- used NBII batch programs to strip HTML tags (Detag) and pre-parse the records (CNS)
Evolution of the Project: USFWS
Update Process
• NBII QC team and USFWS filled in the placeholders:
-- refuge name
-- bounding coordinates
-- quad names
-- publication dates
• Final quality control check through NBII:
-- Metadata Parser (MP)
USFWS Record in FGDC Standard
Evolution of the Project: USFWS
NBII Clearinghouse
• NBII uses a “harvesting” method to bring metadata records into the Clearinghouse
• USFWS placed copies of newly compliant metadata files in a web accessible area (secure ftp site)
• NBII harvests records weekly
• USFWS has its own “node” on the NBII Clearinghouse that is searchable independently or as part of a larger search
• USFWS is also a registered node with the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)
Evolution of the Project: USFWS
Clearinghouse
Evolution of the Project: USFWS
Next Steps
• USFWS and NBII will continue to identify and review records for remaining refuge boundaries
• Records will continue to populate the NBII Clearinghouse
• USFWS will continue to build its metadata program - and NBII will continue to provide its support
Partnership 2: NatureServe
• NatureServe is a non-profit organization that provides scientific information and tools needed to help guide effective conservation action.
• NatureServe and its network of natural heritage programs collect and manage data about rare and endangered species and threatened ecosystems.
Evolution of the Project: NatureServe
• NBII and NatureServe agreed to conduct 4 metadata workshops in different areas of the country
• Each workshop was offered to participants from the NatureServe organization and NBII partners
• Each workshop was 1-1 ½ days in length
Early Steps:
• Travel funds were offered to those partners in need of assistance by both organizations
Evolution of the Project: NatureServe
• NBII and NatureServe conducted 4 metadata workshops in different areas of the country
Training Workshops
• Pine Mountain, GA : November 2003
• Arlington, VA: February 2004
• Fort Collins, CO: April 2004
• LaCrosse, WI: March 2004
Evolution of the Project: NatureServe
Training Workshops
• Pine Mountain, GA : 13 participants, 8 organizations
• Arlington, VA: 18 participants, 8 organizations
• Fort Collins, CO: 23 participants, 16 organizations
• LaCrosse, WI: 3 participants, 1 organization
Evolution of the Project: NatureServe
Content of Training Workshops
• Introduction to the FGDC content standard and the Biological Data Profile • Hands-on practice producing documentation for data sets • Metadata clearinghouse
•Development tools
• Strategies for metadata production
Evolution of the Project: NatureServe
Results of Training Workshops
• New NBII Clearinghouse nodes
• New relationships with organizations willing to post their metadata records in the future
• 57 more people trained in metadata creation
Next Steps: NatureServe
•The NBII will continue to foster relations with NatureServe and the Heritage Programs
• NatureServe will become a node on the NBII Clearinghouse
• The NBII will continue to reach out to Heritage Programs to get their metadata online
Other CAP Grant Results: NBII
• Co-hosted “Train the Trainer” Workshop• Halifax, Nova Scotia: November 2003• Partners: FGDC and Environment Canada• 65 participants • 2 trainers• Live translation into French and Spanish
• “Basics of Metadata” Workshop • Seattle, WA: March 2004• Partner: US Corps of Engineers• 15 participants• 7 organizations represented
Vivian HutchisonMetadata Program Coordinator
NBII
www.nbii.gov
NBII and the FGDC CAP Grant:
Building Metadata Partnerships