EPA and Partners Geospatial Metadata Implementation Project

The EPA and Partners metadata training project achieved significant results during its performance period. Between August 2008 and October 2008, the project team conducted 7 training sessions (6 web-based and 1 on-site), reaching close 200 participants from over 20 states and 30 organizations. Because six of the seven sessions were web-based, the project team was able to reach a very wide audience, with groups ranging from federal agencies, to states, tribes, counties and private companies. It is anticipated that the number of individuals that actually received training through the project is quite a bit higher than the reported number since many organizations broadcast the training to multiple individuals simultaneously. In addition to the basic training elements provided by the project, the trainers also conducted outreach and provided materials for individuals who may not have been able to attend the sessions. First, training videos were created and provided through EPA’s website for any individual to access (www.epa.gov/geospatial/eme.html). Next, the trainers provided a presentation at the 2009 ESRI Federal User’s conference that summarized the training and its key take-home messages. Finally, an article was written for ArcUser magazine that provided some key steps for streamlining metadata production (currently available at http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0309/files/5metadata.pdf). These additional outreach efforts provided a mechanism for making use of the information developed for the training series and continuing on-going metadata education and outreach. Another significant outcome of the EPA and Partners Metadata Training Project was the development of a draft metadata implementation for the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources (NCDENR). Prior to this project, NCDENR did not have an implementation for their agency. As a result of this training, they developed a needs assessment and draft implementation specifying which elements are important to their agency and specific wording for certain elements. This implementation will be FGDC compliant and Geospatial One-Stop (GOS) compliant. It is evolving into an agency-wide geospatial metadata implementation and template that will be used to standardize metadata file generation across their agency. Overall, the project team found that numerous individuals were very eager to participate and obtain follow-up on the sessions. Many individuals indicated that they were going to reuse the information to train their personnel on metadata production and improving their metadata work flows. Because the project offered training to any individual from any organization, the team was able to capture the general trends of interest in various metadata topics. Follow-up from and participation during the courses indicates that a number of attendees found the training to be extremely useful and are planning to incorporate the tools and information into their workflow activities.

Final Report (PDF) -- Metadata Training Materials (see the bottom of the page)

Interim Report  (PDF)

Presentation from the 2009 ESRI Federal User's Conference - Powerpoint (3.9MB) -- PDF without notes (<1MB)

Project Introduction Presentation (PDF)

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Contact:

Mrs. Jessica L. Zichichi
774-206-5549
jzichichi@innovateteam.com

Other contacts:

Caroline Roberts
206-201-3122
croberts@innovateteam.com