Why Geospatial Metadata

The USDA National Agricultural Library (NAL) creates tools and strategy for geospatial data management. The project’s focus involves a comprehensive analysis of the ISO 19115 family of geospatial metadata. The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) endorsed this international standard as the successor to their legacy Content Standard for Digital Geographic Metadata (CSDGM), commonly referred to as “FGDC Metadata.”

Metadata provides the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How for the geographic data it describes. Metadata plays a critical role in making geospatial data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (https://www.force11.org/group/fairgroup/fairprinciples).