What Is Metadata

Metadata collection is mandated for federal agencies by Executive Order 12906 signed in June 1994. Metadata basically answers the questions of who collected the data, when was the data collected, why was the data collected, scale of data, units of data, who to contact to obtain the data, etc.

You can see that this is typically the information that a data gatherer might write down or carry around in their head and then when they leave this knowledge base/information may be lost. This information becomes pertinent when dealing with GIS Program transition (people moving on) park-wide, data sharing with other agencies, and public requests for data.

Since 1998 the Geographic Resources Program for the Intermountain Region has supported the production of metadata thru GIS Project funds, training, and technical assistance requests. At this time there are over 3,000 metadata records on the NPS Data Store for the Intermountain Region Parks and Programs. Please check out the NPS Data Store Web site for samples of Intermountain Region Metadata that are already online.