Using a standard to create metadata enables the research communities to speak in like terms. It also sets the basis for software development by standardizing items and item descriptions. This has enabled the development of cataloging and indexing tools as well as search engines which can pose queries against collections of metadata.
- We all create metadata informally, as notes or reports
- We all use data that we didn't create
- When you're trying to use someone else's data, which is easier to interpret, informal notes, a voluminous report, or a formal standard?
- Like any powerful tool, the metadata standard requires some time and effort to learn, but it is a worthwhile investment in the long run.
- Standards provide a common set of terms. With standards, there is no confusion about what is being communicated by a particular term. From one metadata record to the next, the terminology is the same.
- Standards allow for quick location of a certain element. If a standard is used, finding a specific piece of information in a metadata record will be much easier than if no standard is used.
- Standards enable automated searches. When standards are used, computers can be programmed to search and find useful data sets.
- Standards are federally mandated. Under Executive Order No. 12906, all federal agencies and organizations receiving federal funds must document their geospatial data using the Federal Geographic Data Committee's Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata. Conformance to this standard will: minimize duplication of effort in the collection of expensive digital data; foster cooperative digital data collection activities; and establish a national framework of quality data (NC-CGIA)