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Geospatial Resources at EPA

EPA Metadata Style Guide for Geospatial and Non Geospatial Data

This Style Guide provides suggestions on geospatial and non-geospatial metadata creation that adhere to EPA’s Metadata Technical Specification and requirements from OMB’s Project Open Data (POD) and ISO’s 19115 standards. Detailed guidance on metadata requirements, standard language, and naming conventions are provided with the goal of simplifying the documentation process and standardizing dataset metadata across multiple collaborative environments – EPA’s Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG), EPA GeoPlatform web services, and EPA GeoPlatform Online (GPO).

Each of these collaborative environments should contain metadata that allows users to discover, evaluate, and access each data resource. The chart below highlights the methods for preparation and publication of metadata in each of these environments and provides links to associated Style Guide recommendations and metadata creation tools.

Type of data Geospatial Non Geospatial
Style Guide Chart
Metadata discovery or access point EPA Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG) and Data.gov EPA-hosted web service REST pages EPA GeoPlatform Online EPA Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG) and Data.gov
Interface or Software used for creating metadata EPA Metadata Editor (EME) 5.0* Esri ArcMap EPA GeoPlatform Online EDG Template Excel spreadsheet (send request to edg@epa.gov)
Output EPA/ISO/POD-compliant ArcGIS Metadata XML file ArcMap MXD file with web service documentation in properties fields EPA GeoPlatform Online content item with Item Details fields completed Completed EDG Template Excel spreadsheet
Metadata publication method Place valid metadata XML file in EDG Web Accessible Folder (WAF) for publication to EDG Publish MXD file as web service via ArcGIS Server software Configure sharing on content item to share  with desired groups Deliver completed EDG Template Excel spreadsheet to EDG Team for publishing
Use this Style Guide: EPA Geospatial Metadata Style Guide using EME 5 EPA Style Guide for Creating ArcMap Web Service Metadata EPA Style Guide for Documenting GeoPlatform Online Content Items EPA Non-Geospatial Metadata Style Guide

*Metadata authors who wish to use EME v3 to produce metadata in FGDC-compliant format may do so and should follow the EPA Geospatial Metadata Style Guide using EME 3.

These Style Guides do not detail the process to publish metadata records to EDG. Please consult documents at the EDG Home page for help on publishing metadata to EDG. For additional assistance, please contact the EDG Team (edg@epa.gov).