Basic information and definitions of the NRM metadata elements is available by holding your mouse pointer over the field heading in question within the metadata record itself. After approximately a second a text box will appear on-screen with the:

• name of the field,
• a short description, including a suggested entry format (if necessary), and
• a statement as to its entry obligation as per the ANZLIC metadata Profile AS/NZS ISO 19115:2005 and ISO19139:2007 for implementation.

Eg. Individual name
Name of the responsible person. (Format John Citizen)
Mandatory

Under this profile there are three obligations for metadata entry, mandatory, conditional and optional.
In the NRM metadata template only mandatory and conditional fields are advertised in the on-screen help text.

However in the NRM Data Library Portal, it is expected that ALL metadata fields be populated in ALL cases unless otherwise prompted by the on-screen help text.

Detailed explanations of all of the individual metadata elements are browsable below. The descriptions have been ordered as they are formatted in the NRM metadata templates.

To download a full copy as PDF, click here.

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IDENTIFICATION INFO
Basic information about the data resource to which the metadata record applies. This information is required to identify a data resource.

Title

Name by which the cited resource is known

Mandatory

Abstract

Brief narrative summary of the content of the data resource(s) to allow the user to determine the usefulness of the resource.

Mandatory

Date

Reference date for the cited resource (YYYY-MM-DD)

Mandatory

Date Type

Event used for reference date

Mandatory

Status

Status of the resource(s). Specifies the current status of the data resource or the progress of a review, ie. the element indicates whether the data will be updated sometime in the future. Progress values are selected from the controlled list of values in the codelist.

Data Point of Contact

Identification of a means of communication with person(s) and organisation(s) associated with the data resource.

Organisation name

Name of the responsible organisation.

The Organisation element allows searchers to make contact with an organisation responsible for the creation and management of a resource. Acronyms should be avoided.

Conditional

Position name

Role or position of the responsible person.

The Position name element allows searchers to make contact with a person within an organisation responsible for the creation and management of a resource.

Conditional

Voice

Telephone number by which individuals can speak to the responsible organisation or individual

Facsimile

Telephone number of a facsimile machine for the responsible organisation or individual

Postal Address

Address line for the contact (eg. PO Box 123 or 25 Resource Street)

City

Identifies the suburb or town

State

Identifies the state or territory

Postcode

Identifies the postcode

Country

Identifies the country

E-mail

Address of the electronic mailbox of the responsible organisation or individual

OnLine resource

Information about online sources from which the resource can be obtained

Web Address

Identifies the location (address) for an on-line access point using a URL

Role

Function performed by the responsible party.

Data point of Contact

Identification of a means of communication with person(s) and organisation(s) associated with the data resource.

Maintenance and update frequency

Frequency with which changes and additions are made to the resource after the initial resource is completed

Name

Name of the series, or aggregate dataset, of which the dataset is a part

Format of the dataset (eg. shape file)

Version

Version of the format (Arcview 3.1)

Search Keyword

Commonly used word(s) or formalised word(s) or phrase(s) used to describe the subject. Select the + to add multiple keywords. Adding multiple entires where applicable is recommended.

Mandatory

Keyword type

The method used to group similar keywords.

Spatial representation type

Method used to spatially represent geographic information.

This field is only completed if the data resource has a spatial component.

Resolution

A statement as to the spatial positional accuracy of the resource(s) in the metadata

UoM Unit of Measure

Unit of measure used in resolution statement (eg. metres)

Resolution

Actual accuracy measure statement (eg.25)

Conditional

Language

The language used in the metadata record and data resource.

This element allows a search to be restricted to resources where the metadata has been created in a specific language. Domain values are selected from ISO 639-2 alpha-3 code, in which English is abbreviated as 'eng'.

Mandatory

Topic category

High-level geographic data thematic classification to assist in the grouping and search of available geographic data sets. Can be used to group keywords as well. Listed examples are not exhaustive. NOTE It is understood there are overlaps between general categories and the user is encouraged to select the one most appropriate.

Geographic extent

Information about the spatial, temporal extent of the data resource.

Geographic Bounding Box

Geographic position of the dataset. Can be custom entered or by selecting a pre-defined list of Australian geographic extents from the pull down menu.

northbound latitude

northern-most coordinate of the limit of the dataset extent expressed in latitude in decimal degrees (GDA94 Datum)

Westbound longitude

Western-most coordinate of the limit of the dataset extent expressed in latitude in decimal degrees (GDA94 Datum)

Mandatory if coordinates for north, east or south supplied

Eastbound longitude

Eastern-most coordinate of the limit of the dataset extent, expressed in longitude in decimal degrees (GDA94 Datum)

Mandatory if coordinates for north, south or west supplied

Southbound latitude

Southern-most coordinate of the limit of the dataset extent, expressed in latitude in decimal degrees (GDA94 Datum).

Mandatory if coordinates for north, east or west supplied

Geographic description

Description of the geographic extent.

Text Description of the bounding geographic extent. Enter text manually for custom entry. Automatically populated if using the pre-defined list of locations in the pull down

Mandatory

Temporal extent

time period covered by the content of the dataset

Data Capture Begin date

Formatted as 2007-09-12T15:00:00 (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss)

Data Capture End date

Formatted as 2007-09-12T15:00:00 (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss)

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DATA QUALITY INFO
Provides overall assessment of quality of a resource(s).

Hierarchy level

Hierarchical level of the data specified by the scope

Mandatory

Dataset Set

Dataset to which the resource is a part of.

Conditional

Lineage

Explanation of the derivation the data resource.

Lineage presents a history of how the data resource was derived and is intended to provide a statement regarding the nature and quality of the data resource. This element provides a general explanation of the data producer's knowledge about the lineage of a data resource.

Mandatory

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REFERENCE SYSTEM INFO
Description of the spatial and temporal reference systems used in the dataset

Title

Name by which the cited resource is known.

Name of the Reference System information used in the dataset.

Mandatory

Date

Reference date for the cited resource (YYYY-MM-DD)

Date of the Reference System information used in the dataset.

Mandatory

Date Type

Event used for reference date

Mandatory

Edition

Version of the cited resource

Spatial reference System code

alphanumeric value identifying a coordinate system in the EPSG namespace. Default code is GDA94 MGA Zone 55.

Mandatory

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DISTRIBUTION INFO
Provides information about the distributor of and options for obtaining the resource(s)

OnLine resource

Information about the OnLine sources from which the resource can be contained

Web Address

Identifies the location (address) for an on-line access point using a URL

Data Access Protocol

Connection protocol to be used

Name

Identifies the location (address) for on-line access using a Uniform Resource Locator address (URL) or similar addressing scheme for the cited resource.

OnLine resource

Information about the online sources from which the resource can be contained

Web Address

Identifies the location (address) for an on-line access point using a URL

Data Access Protocol

Connection protocol to be used

File

Name of the file being uploaded to the NRM Data Server.

OnLine resource

Information about the online sources from which the resource can be contained

Web Address

Identifies the location (address) for an on-line access point using a URL

Data Access Protocol

Connection protocol to be used

Name

Identifies the location (address) for on-line access using a Uniform Resource Locator address (URL) or similar addressing scheme for the cited resource.

Distributor

Party responsible for the distributing the data resource.

Individual name

Name of the responsible person. (Format John Citizen)

Conditional

Organisation name

Name of the responsible organisation.

The Organisation element allows searchers to make contact with an organisation responsible for the creation and management of a resource. Acronyms should be avoided.

Conditional

Position name

Role or position of the responsible person.

The Position name element allows searchers to make contact with a person within an organisation responsible for the creation and management of a resource.

Conditional

Voice

Telephone number by which individuals can speak to the responsible organisation or individual

Facsimile

Telephone number of a facsimile machine for the responsible organisation or individual

Postal Address

Address line for the contact (eg. PO Box 123 or 25 Resource Street)

City

Identifies the city or town

State

Identifies the state or territory

Postcode

Identifies the postcode

Country

Identifies the country

E-mail

Address of the electronic mailbox of the responsible organisation or individual

Role

Function performed by the responsible party.

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METADATA CONSTRAINTS
Provides information concerning the restrictions placed on the data resource.

Use limitation

Limitation affecting the fitness for use of the data resource. Eg. 'not to be used for navigation'.

Use constraints

Constraints applied to assure the protection of privacy or intellectual property, and any special restrictions or limitations or warnings on using the resource.

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METADATA AUTHOUR
Party responsible for the information provided

Individual name

Name of the responsible person. (Format John Citizen)

Mandatory

Organisation name

Name of the responsible organisation.

Mandatory

Position name

Role or position of the responsible person.

Mandatory

Role

Function performed by the responsible party.

Mandatory

File identifier

unique identifier for this metadata file.

The metadata identification number permanently identifies a metadata file. The identifier of a metadata file should never change while the associated dataset is deemed to be the same. This includes over time, when the dataset is transferred between custodian or when the metadata record is shared between metadata applications. A Universal Unique Identifier (UUID) is automatically generated.

Language

Language used for documenting metadata

Conditional

Character set

Full name of the character coding standard used for the metadata set

Name of the character coding standard used in the metadata record and data resource.

Conditional

Parent identifier

File identifier of the metadata record to which this metadata record is a subset (child).

For example a dataset may be part of a dataset series or a single, complex dataset may have several metadata records describing different aspects.

Hierarchy level

The position of the metadata record in a hierarchy of metadata records.

Where this element identifies that there is metadata (at a higher level) and that this metadata is based on those higher-level metadata descriptions. It identifies whether the metadata describes a type of resource, an entire dataset, part of a dataset or a series of datasets.

Mandatory

Hierarchy level name

Name of the hierarchy levels for which the metadata is provided.

The name of the hierarchy levels of the metadata record where the metadata record is a subset of a previously described metadata record. This element identifies the subset of previously described metadata of which this metadata is part. It is used to identify which parts of the data resource or series are described using this metadata record. Example: If hierarchy level was a feature type, an example of the hierarchy level name could be coastline.

Mandatory if the hierarchy level is entered

Metadata standard name

Name of the metadata standard (including the profile name) used

Mandatory

Metadata standard version

Version (profile) of the metadata standard used.

Mandatory

Date stamp

Date that the metadata was created. ( YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss)

Mandatory