In an age of increasing technological abilities and access to information, metadata represents a critical element in information-sharing environments. Data management is greatly enhanced by the use of metadata standards and controlled vocabularies. The Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata was developed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) as the documentation standard for GIS data sets. The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) developed the Biological Data Profile to allow for the full documentation of biological data sets, in addition to non-spatial tabular data sets often collected in biological and ecological disciplines. The ISO Standard’s North American Profile is currently in development - internationally recognized standard that will eventually replace the current FGDC standard.

The use of controlled vocabulary for ecological and environmental terminology adds accuracy and searching efficiency to metadata records. The NBII Biocomplexity Thesaurus was originally developed in 2003. It merged five life sciences thesauri together into one searchable online thesaurus. It has been updated in 2008 with new terms from ecotourism and the fire science community. The use of the thesauri in creating useful metadata is essential. How can the use of metadata standards and controlled vocabulary be of value and useful to ecologists in their daily work?

Results/Conclusions

Metadata provides a foundation for data to be discovered and used by ecologists. Metadata assure a consistent way to record and display information describing datasets and other research. A detailed metadata record will capture valuable components of a dataset that a published paper may not, which will serve useful purposes to ecologists looking back at a dataset. The creation of metadata provides systematic documentation of valuable resources developed by an organization, as well, which benefits the organization by preserving valuable institutional knowledge.

Additionally, the use of metadata standards and controlled vocabularies in spatial data management environments also greatly facilitates the data exchange process. This is evidenced in the use of metadata repositories such as the NBII Metadata Clearinghouse that serve as important tools to find data that has already been collected, analyzed, and reviewed. Discovery of records, which is aided in the use of controlled vocabularies, give researchers and scientists an opportunity to evaluate and access existing data as well as take advantage of new collaboration opportunities between organizations. In this era of partnerships in science, such collaborations could prove highly advantageous.