Metadata SWAT Teams: A Success Story in Creating a Regional Clearinghouse Node

Author: Robert A. Norheim
Organization: University of Washington

College of Forest Resources
Seattle, WA 98195-2100
USA

Phone: 206 543-9138
Fax: 206 543-3254
norheim@u.washington.edu

Despite executive orders and agency mandates, metadata is still a low-priority (and largely unfunded) activity. We have developed a successful approach to encouraging a wide variety of partners to develop metadata. Rather than relying on the contributor to create metadata, we send in a team of metadata specialists. This team can quickly document a set of coverages, thus providing a service to the contributor and also adding to the collection of metadata and data available for the community. The metadata team also educates partners as to metadata software, the need for metadata, and the particulars of the metadata standard.