2.2. Data Collection and Entering Metadata

Collecting the metadata proved to a more time-intensive task than first imagined. Our first inclination was to inventory everything that was available on the server in the Spatial Information Systems Laboratory (SIS lab). Next, we proceeded to enquire to various departments around the campus as to if they had any geo-spatial datasets they would be willing to share, and if we could obtain information about them. We developed a basic questionnaire, see appendix A, which was distributed to various faculty members, departments, students and other contacts around the university. The response to this request was very small; in fact, we had very little feedback on our request. In combination with the metadata standards adjustment regarding our issues with ISO, this resulted in us focusing on creating metadata for a much smaller number of datasets. These datasets are on the SIS server, and from the Institute for Health Research and Education, as provided by the institute’s Geomatics Coordinator, Darrin Grund.

Entering metadata is not difficult work; rather, it is just very tedious! Because our schema is to be implemented by selecting relevant FGDC elements and displaying them in Metadata Explorer, we used the FGDC Metadata Wizard to enter the metadata.