Abstract - A Presentation on the Implementation of the DOCUMENT Metadata Tool in the Water Resources Division of the USGS

Track: Federal Systems

Mark Negri
US Geological Survey
521 National Center
MS 445
Reston, VA 20192

Telephone: 703-648-5613
Fax: 703-648-5295
E-mail: mnegri@usgs.gov

A Presentation on the Implementation of the DOCUMENT Metadata Tool in the Water Resources Division of the USGS

The Water Resources Division (WRD) of the USGS developed a spatial data metadata tracking tool in 1989 for use in ArcInfo called DOCUMENT.AML. When Executive Order Number 12906 made metadata a mandatory part of the spatial data distribution by the federal government in 1994, Esri adopted DOCUMENT.AML as part of their ArcInfo software. Even with the inclusion of DOCUMENT.AML in each release of ArcInfo since version 7.0.3, the education on the usage and administration of this metadata tool is an ongoing task. The WRD repackages ArcInfo releases through a Central Site Support agreement. Part of the ArcInfo installation instructions involves the population of DOCUMENT.AML's Contact and Distribution INFO tables. the WRD also holds several levels of GIS training courses from an introductory level to an advanced modeling level. In each of these GIS courses, the proper usage of DOCUMENT.AML is covered. This combination of ArcInfo installation instructions and repeated coverage in GIS training courses has made for an effective implementation of DOCUMENT.AML within WRD.