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Geospatial Metadata

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Encyclopedia of Database Systems

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Synonyms

Geographical metadata

Definition

Geospatial metadata are a type of metadata used to describe geospatial data. Data described by geospatial metadata relates to objects that have an explicit or implicit geographic extent or position on the surface of the Globe. Geospatial metadata can be used to create metadata catalogues or directories that describe geographic features of data stored in any environment, ranging from data stored in geographic information systems (GIS) to simple documents, datasets, images, or even services. Geospatial metadata captures the basic characteristics of geospatial data and represents the what, the when, the where, and the who of the geospatial data. A typical geospatial metadata record includes catalog elements such as title, abstract, and publication data; geographic elements such as geographic extent and projection information; and database elements such as attribute label definitions and attribute domain values.

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Recommended Reading

  1. ANZLIC Metadata Working Group. ANZLIC Metadata Guidelines: Core metadata elements for geographic data in Australia and New Zealand, Version 2. http://www.anzlic.org.au/get/2358011755.

  2. Major G. and Olsen L. A short history of the DIF. On GCMD website, http://gcmd.nasa.gov/User/difguide/.

  3. Metadata Ad Hoc Working Group Federal Geographic Data Committee. FGDC website, http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/csdgm/.

  4. Ordnance – National Mapping Agency of Great Britain. Ordnance Survey Ontologies. Ordnance Website, http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/ontology/.

  5. Wolfe R. MIT Libraries website, http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/metadata/standards/fgdc.html.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Hawthorne, NY, USA

    Bugra Gedik

Authors
  1. Bugra Gedik
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

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© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Gedik, B. (2009). Geospatial Metadata. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_908

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