Track: Database Management and SDE
Active Metadata: Using Metadata to Drive Applications for GIS Data Access and Analysis
Tim RourkeIn many organizations, GIS dwells on the edge of mainstream information technology. GIS remains a separate entity, not just another analytical tool. The biggest hurdle to integrating spatial analysis with other systems is data. One of the most annoying problems facing all users of information technology today is getting a handle on data, but for GIS users, it is an everyday struggle. Because spatial data are different, only the creators of data can hope to comprehend attributes. In order to capture and circulate knowledge of data, developing and using metadata seems to be the answer. While metadata can help, its main product is a paper document, which must be stored, searched and referenced manually. This paper will outline an approach to make metadata a more useful and integral part of spatial data analysis. Using ArcInfo Open Development Environment tools, Visual Basic, and MapObjects, a suite of tools can be built to find, edit, and store metadata in a database. Building on these tools, applications can be developed and driven by that metadata database. Making metadata an active component of GIS application is "active metadata."
Tim Rourke
EDAW
200 Sparkman Dr. NW
Huntsville, AL 35805
USA
Telephone: 205-430-5560
Fax: 205-430-5561
E-mail: rourket@edaw.com