discovery metadata standard
The MEDIN Metadata Discovery Standard must be used to record details of data sets. The fields used in the standard are compliant with other international conventions (INSPIRE, ISO19115), which means that the details can be transferred easily between organisations and queried by the MEDIN portal. The resources below have been amended to conform to the GEMINI2 profile, however they are continually updated. Please check back to this webpage regularly to ensure you are using the most recent version. If you identify any problems using the files and tools please contact enquiries@oceannet.org
We have developed a number of tools and documents (outlined below) to assist you in creating MEDIN-compliant metadata - dependent on your type and level of experience:
1). For users who are producing GIS data layers using ESRI software we have produced a tool that allows you to create MEDIN discovery metadata easily. Download the tool
and 'Producing metadata with ArcCatalog' guidance document (last updated 07Jun10).
2). Use the online form to create and export a metadata record in XML. This is suitable if you are a non-expert user generating metadata for a small number of data sets. First you should register and then complete the fields in each tab and then export the file and send it together with your dataset to a Data Archive Centre.
3). Use the 'Production of discovery metadata for MEDIN' guidance document (last updated 23Feb10) to assist you in generating large numbers of metadata records directly from your own metadata holdings. This method is suitable for individuals who have experience of metadata formats and XML. A schematron and guidance document(last updated 23Feb10) is available for you to validate your xml, which may be viewed in software such as Oxygen. An example xml file is available here (last updated 01Nov09), whilst an oXygen (ver. 11.1) userguide, which can be used to validate MEDIN xml using the schematron, is available here (last updated 26Feb10).
4). SeaZone are in the process of developing a desktop application that can be used to create metadata. Details will follow shortly.
5). MEDIN are currently producing a tool which will assist in transforming already populated metadata databases into MEDIN format XML metadata for inclusion on the MEDIN portal. This tool is part of a two stage process and a relational database such as in Oracle needs to be set up and populated before the tool can be applied. This user managed tables document (last updated 13Jul10) will guide the user through populating this database in the correct way so that the tool can then transform the data successfully into MEDIN format XML metadata.