Overview

The metadata universe has traditionally been classified into bins for collection level, catalog level, and granule level metadata (or some other similar classification scheme). It is not unusual for each of these levels to require a different approach to metadata and tool development. Many systems have been developed that are focused on a single "level" of documentation.

The ISO 19115 standard changes this picture by including a ScopeCode in each metadata record. This code describes what the metadata actually applies to and it can have many values: attribute, attributeType, collectionHardware, collectionSession, dataset, series, nonGeographicDataset, dimensionGroup, feature, featureType, propertyType, fieldSession, software, service, model, and tile (see Figure). In fact, it has recently been proposed that this list be expanded considerably.

The name of the scopeCode, hierarchyLevel, implies an hierarchical structure for the metadata. this may not be appropriate in all cases and, in fact, may be confusing. It is probably beneficial to think more in terms of a traditional scope concept than a hierarchy level in this case.

The Scope Code can be used at three different locations in the ISO standard: in the metadata record itself, as shown here, or in a data quality or maintenance report. For example, this allows a quality report about specific attributes or features or for particular collection hardware, for example.

We may need to rethink some of our traditional divisions as we learn to use this powerful new capability in ISO

Recommendations for ISO 19115 and 19115-1

Conceptual Model (UML)

Implementation (XML)

Usage

Revisions