Create Dublin Core+ metadata
Dublin Core is a vocabulary of terms defined by Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) that can be used to document and thereby discover resources through the internet. The DCMI metadata terms support an interdisciplinary approach to exchanging information.
The original set of fifteen terms known as the Dublin Core has grown to over fifty terms. The DCMI metadata terms are designed to be used together with terms specific to a discipline or application to facilitate interoperability. In this context, Esri has extended the DCMI vocabulary with important terms for describing spatial data to create the Dublin Core+ metadata style. This style is rooted in IT standards but remains a lightweight vocabulary that includes the essential concepts covered by dedicated spatial metadata standards.
The Dublin Core+ metadata style provides a consistent experience across the ArcGIS system. It is the default metadata style for new ArcGIS Online organizations and for new ArcGIS Enterprise portals beginning with version 12.0.
DCMI has published many standards based on the Dublin Core including ISO 15836-1 and ISO 15836-2. However, DCMI does not require documents to be serialized in one specific format. DCMI provides many schemas for validating DCMI metadata terms. In the ArcGIS system, Dublin Core+ metadata is exported to the RDF/XML format and can be validated using schemas that are available on the DCMI web site.
This topic describes the workflows for authoring metadata in ArcGIS Pro using the Dublin Core+ metadata style.
Configure ArcGIS Pro
The first step toward creating Dublin Core+ metadata is to configure ArcGIS Pro correctly. On the Options dialog box, choose Dublin Core+ in the metadata style drop-down list. This ensures when you edit metadata in the metadata view, the suggestions and errors you see are based on Dublin Core+.
The Dublin Core+ metadata style is only supported in ArcGIS Pro using the ArcGIS metadata editor. If you previously used the ArcGIS Pro classic metadata editor to author metadata using another metadata style, when you choose Dublin Core+ the metadata editor setting automatically changes to the ArcGIS metadata editor. A warning message indicates your previously selected metadata editor is not valid for the Dublin Core+ metadata style.
With this metadata style, you can view all of an item's metadata content in the catalog view. If the metadata style set in ArcGIS Pro doesn't match the metadata style used elsewhere by your organization, you may see inconsistencies when you view and edit metadata throughout the ArcGIS system.
Note:
The ArcGIS system only works with metadata in the ArcGIS metadata format. If you have metadata content stored in a Dublin Core-based format, it can't be used directly in ArcGIS Pro or elsewhere in the ArcGIS system. When you try to view this metadata content in a catalog view, a message appears indicating you can't use the information. You can view this metadata content in a browser.
Create Dublin Core+ metadata
You can author Dublin Core+ metadata in ArcGIS Pro using the ArcGIS metadata editor following the steps below.
Edit an item's metadata in the metadata view.
The metadata view appears, displaying the ArcGIS metadata editor's Essential Metadata page.
Make the metadata view wide enough to see all three columns.
In the metadata editor's third column, click the Required tab.
Metadata elements that are required for the current metadata style are listed on the Required tab in the third column of the metadata editor. The name of the card on which the metadata element appears is shown below the element's name. Some elements are included on more than one card.
Each row in the table below describes one of the required Dublin Core+ metadata terms. The element's name in the ArcGIS metadata editor is shown along with the metadata editor page and the card on which the element can be found. The requirements column identifies the Dublin Core+ metadata term and describes what content to provide.
|
Metadata editor page |
Fulfill Dublin Core+ requirements |
|---|---|
|
Title—Essential Metadata page Item Description card |
Title—A descriptive title for the item. The ArcGIS system may add the item's name or its associated file name as the title by default, but a descriptive title is more helpful for documenting and discovering resources. Enter a suitable value in the Title text box. |
|
Name of Entity (Label)—Essential Metadata page Data Dictionary card |
Dictionary title—The name of the class or table of data described in this metadata document. This can be added by the metadata synchronization process if it is supported for this item type. If necessary, enter the table or class name as it appears in the Catalog pane or a catalog view in the Name of Entity (Label) text box. This element is not meant to provide a descriptive title. Terms were added by Esri to facilitate describing an item's attribute table, or data dictionary, as a resource using the Dublin Core+ vocabulary, but title is a standard Dublin Core term for describing resources. |
|
Field Name—Essential Metadata page Data Dictionary card |
Attribute title—The name of a field in the attribute table. This can be added by the metadata synchronization process if it is supported for this item type. If necessary, enter the actual name in the Field Name text box. This element is not meant to provide a descriptive title or an alias for the field. The Required tab will have one entry for each field in the table. Terms were added by Esri to facilitate describing a field in an attribute table as a resource using the Dublin Core+ vocabulary, but title is a standard Dublin Core term for describing resources. |
|
Field Type—Essential Metadata page Data Dictionary card |
Attribute type—The data type of a field in the attribute table. This can be added by the metadata synchronization process if it is supported for this item type. If necessary, enter the data type in the Field Type text box. The Required tab will have one entry for each field in the table. Terms were added by Esri to facilitate describing a field in an attribute table as a resource using the Dublin Core+ vocabulary, but type is a standard Dublin Core term for describing resources. |
Best practices for authoring Dublin Core+ content
By following some best practices, the metadata you create in ArcGIS will be accurate and easier to maintain and will transition seamlessly to other metadata styles and formats in the future, if desired.
Inapplicable or unknown values
When a metadata element's value is unknown or inapplicable, leave its value blank when you edit metadata in ArcGIS. Different elements are considered mandatory in other metadata standards, and the manner in which the uncertainty or absence of a value is indicated is different in exported XML files. Exporters for each style handle the situation in an appropriate manner.
Content that can't or shouldn't be edited
For most items, ArcGIS Pro can record the item's intrinsic properties in its metadata as appropriate. This is accomplished by synchronizing the item's metadata.
For example, if an item's spatial reference is set, full details of that spatial reference are recorded in its metadata. Detailed spatial reference properties can't be edited manually in the metadata view. This ensures the metadata reflects the item's actual spatial reference. You can manually provide information about an item's spatial reference for items that don't support synchronization, but you can only do so by providing the spatial reference identifier. The properties of the spatial reference are fixed for that identifier, and they can be examined in the appropriate registry where they are defined; individual spatial reference parameters are not manually typed into an item's metadata.
For other properties, such as the names of fields in the attribute table, it's possible to change the information derived from the item when editing metadata in ArcGIS. However, these values should be left unaltered to ensure ArcGIS Pro continues to update them as the data and properties change and that the metadata remains accurate. For example, if a field name in the metadata doesn't match a field name in the attribute table, it will be removed the next time the metadata is synchronized, and you will lose the description you provided for the data in that field.
The ArcGIS metadata editor automatically provides the current date as the date when the metadata was last updated, and the appropriate character set value describing how metadata created by ArcGIS is encoded. These values typically should not be modified. However, if you're transcribing metadata that describes an archived item, for example, you may want to change the metadata date to reflect the date when the metadata content was originally authored.
Export metadata to the Dublin Core+ RDF/XML format
If you need to provide information about an item to people or organizations outside the ArcGIS system, you can export the item's metadata to a stand-alone metadata file in the Dublin Core+ RDF/XML format. If you're using another metadata style, you can still choose to export your metadata to the Dublin Core+ format by selecting this option in the drop-down list.
On the Catalog tab on the ribbon, in the Metadata group, click Export
.The Export Metadata dialog box appears.
Click The metadata content to export drop-down list and click the amount of content to filter out of the item's metadata during the export process.
All Supported Content—The item's metadata is not filtered.
Without Machine Names—The item's metadata content is filtered to remove any machine names that may exist. Appropriate actions are taken depending on the context in which the machine name is found. The metadata element is removed if it doesn't cause the document to be invalid, the machine name is removed from the beginning of a UNC path, or the value is changed to identify the location as being withheld.
Without Sensitive Information—Machine names are filtered as described above. Additionally, local and network file paths, and internet locations other than
httporhttpsaddresses are removed in the same manner. Operating system information, database information, and geoprocessing history are also removed.
If the Dublin Core+ format is not already selected, click The type of metadata to export drop-down list and click Dublin Core+.
Browse to or type the location and name of the XML file that will be created in the Export metadata to text box.
Click OK.
The filtered ArcGIS metadata elements are matched to the appropriate Dublin Core+ metadata terms, and their content is transferred to an RDF/XML-format file. ArcGIS metadata includes content that is not included in the Dublin Core, such as thumbnails and the geoprocessing history of the item; this content can't be included in a Dublin Core+ RDF/XML-format file.