Authors:
John Bocchino, GIS Specialist
Tim Huizing, GIS Specialist
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Bureau of Geographic Information and Analysis
PO Box 428
Trenton, NJ 08625
(609) 633-2668/ (609) 633-1262
jbocchin@dep.state.nj.us; thuizing@dep.state.nj.us

In 1998 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) made the creation of high quality metadata that is compliant with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) standard a high priority goal. Although NJDEP GIS data layers were well documented at that time, none of the Department’s metadata followed the FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM). The impetus for creating FGDC-compliant metadata was driven largely by the establishment of the New Jersey Spatial Data Clearinghouse (http://njgeodata.state.nj.us) that relies on standardized machine readable and searchable metadata. The decision was made early on to follow the CSDGM internally, and to encourage and then assist others within New Jersey to do the same.

In order to achieve this NJDEP did two things: 1.) developed a metadata creation tool, and 2.) formed a metadata partnership composed of individuals representing numerous public, private, non-profit and academic institutions in the State to develop and provide a one-day metadata training workshop. The first initiative resulted in the development of a free metadata tool, New Jersey MetaLite (NJML), making it relatively easy to create compliant metadata. Although NJDEP will continue to support NJML, the department is also making the transition to the use of ArcCatalog for metadata creation. The second initiative resulted in the development of a one-day curriculum which has been used to conduct numerous metadata training workshops through out New Jersey, resulting in the training of several hundred people.

Creating FGDC compliant metadata is not a trivial undertaking. Significant time and effort went into developing a metadata tool, conducting training and producing metadata for existing data layers. However, the benefits associated with these efforts have been significant. Although NJDEP took a leading role in encouraging FGDC-compliant metadata, the effort in New Jersey was truly a partnership among many organizations, including the FGDC, the NJ Office of GIS, Rutgers University, and other partners in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. This had the added benefit of reflecting the input of the broader New Jersey GIS community.