If you have a question which is not answered here, please feel free to contact us on info@gigateway.org.uk or on +44 (0) 20 7036 0437.

What is gigateway?
Gigateway is a free web-based information service which provides access to geospatial metadata in the United Kingdom.

How is gigateway funded?
Gigateway receives National Government funding through the Department of Communities and Local Government.

Who manages the gigateway service?
Gigateway is managed by the Association for Geographic Information (AGI). AGI's operational capital is Geographic Information. Gigateway’s sole purpose is to provide access to geographic information; it therefore seemed a natural placement. Ordnance Survey and AGI contracted for gigateway to be delivered by the AGI. Click here to learn more about the roles and responisbilities of AGI's Information Services Team.

What is metadata?
Metadata is the technical word for 'data about data'. It is the term used to describe the summary information or characteristics of a set of data. In the area of geospatial information, or information with a geographic component, this normally means the What, Who, Where, When and How of the data. The only major difference between geographic metadata and the many other metadata sets being created for libraries, academia, professions, etc, is the emphasis on the spatial component - the 'where' element. Just as a consumer looks at the label on a food product to determine the ingredients, nutritional value and manufacturer, so to can a user of geospatial data review a metadata record to determine whether the dataset is fit for their purpose.

With the advent of GIS and the expanding use of digital data, the benefits and requirements for geospatial metadata are now well known. Consequently, there are recognised approaches to metadata documentation. The IGGI Guide: Principles of Good Metadata Management provides an excellent introduction to this subject.

Why collect Metadata?
With increasing amounts of data being created and stored (but sometimes not organised) there is a real need to document the data for future use - to be as accessible as possible to as wide a "public" as possible. There are significant benefits in doing so:

• Metadata helps organise and maintain an organisation's investment in data.
• It provides information about an organisation's data holdings in catalogue form or to brokers, resellers and clearing houses.
• Accessible metadata records help to avoid duplication of effort by ensuring awareness of the existence of datasets, and promotes the availability of geospatial data beyond the traditional geospatial community
• Users can locate all available geospatial data relevant to an area of interest or study. There is increasing pressure from customers for easier and quicker access to the right information, at little or no charge.
• Data providers are able to advertise and promote the availability of their data via online services.
• Metadata cataloguing goes some way towards compliance with Government directives relating to easier access to information - Information Age Government, Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts, Public Records Act, Crown Copyright, etc.
  

What is Discovery Metadata?
There are three different levels of Metadata: Discovery metadata - which answers the question, "What datasets hold the sort of data I am interested in?"; Exploration metadata - "Do the identified datasets contain sufficient information to enable a sensible analysis to be made for my purposes?"; and Exploitation metadata - the process of obtaining and using the data that are required.

Standards regulated discovery level metadata is the minimum amount of information that needs to be provided to convey to the user the nature and content of the data resource. This falls into broad categories to answer the what, why, when, who, where and how questions about geospatial data.

• What - title and description of the dataset.
• Why - abstract detailing reasons for the data collection.
• When - when the dataset was created and the update cycles, if any.
• Who - originator and data supplier.
• Where - the geographical extent based on lat/long, co-ordinates, geographical names or administrative areas.
• How - how to obtain more information or order the datasets, formats, media access, constraints.

These broad categories are limited in number to reduce the effort required to collect the information, whilst still conveying to the user the nature and content of the data resource.

How can I publish my metadata on gigateway?
Gigateway would like to encourage as many different organisations to publish their geospatial metadata on the Data Locator as possible. To this end, we have provided training on the fundamentals of metadata creation and manadgement, and have developed MetaGenie - our freely available software to assist people in creating metadata to internationally recognised standards. If you have metadata which you would like to publish, click here for further information, or contact our Technical Officer, Robert Turner, for assistance.

How can I stay up to date with the latest on metadata and gigateway?
Gigateway distributes an occasional e-Newsletter via email. click here to subscribe. We also publish back copies of these newsletters on our News page.

Why are standards are necessary?
Metadata standards and consistency are necessary to ensure that comparisons can be made by users about the suitability of data from different sources. This means, for example, when comparing metadata about property or hazardous waste there is an indication of the dates to which the information refers, or if comparing metadata about different map sources the relevant scales are shown. Without standards validated metadata meaningful comparisons cannot be made.

What metadata standards currently exist in the UK?
UK GEMINI - developed by AGI in conjunction with the e-Government Unit - is the UK's national metatdata standard. There is a page of the gigateway site devoted to national and international metadata Standards.

What is UK GEMINI?
The profile is the result of a year-long collaboration between the Association for Geographic Information (AGI) and the Cabinet Office e-Government Unit, with additional representation from national and local government, and the academic community.

What is a profile?
A profile is a subset of one or several information standards which adopts elements, structures or rules for different user communities. Adherence to the UK GEMINI profile, which will replace the GIgateway Discovery Metadata Specifications (the NGDF Standard) as the UK's national geospatial metadata profile, allows for the creation of discovery metadata with both ISO 19115 (Geographic Information - Metadata) and the national e-Government Metadata Standard (eGMS), ensuring compliance with both. Adopting UK GEMINI will also simplify the process of publishing metadata via gigateway's Data Locator.

Why should my organisation adopt UK GEMINI?
As well as providing assistance to central and local government departments in meeting targets on electronic delivery and interoperability, all organisations involved in creating and managing geospatial datasets will benefit from developing a metadata catalogue which maps to a common international standard. Users can rest assured that the UK GEMINI profile has been through a rigorous process of user consultation and that gigateway will be adopting the new profile and modifying its MetaGenie software ASAP to keep pace with this development.

What tools exist to help me implement UK GEMINI?
Gigateway's freely available metadata creation software, MetaGenie, makes the task of creating and editing UK GEMINI metadata simple and efficient. The software can be downloaded from the gigateway website.

How does UK GEMINI relate to the e-Government metadata standard (e-GMS)?
They are complementary. The whole point of the UK GEMINI project was to develop an application profile that would allow public sector organisations to create metadata which would conform to both ISO 19115 and to the e-GMS.

Does this mean that I have to create duplicate records?
No. Conformance with the UK GEMINI profile allows organisations to meet their obligations and business needs without having to duplicate work. There is no need for any organisation to have to decide whether to use UK GEMINI or 19115 or eGMS. Using UK GEMINI effectively means you are compliant with all three.

Does adoption of the GEMINI profile comply with the e-Government Interoperability Framework (eGIF)?
Yes!

How can I be assured that this profile is definitive?
UK GEMINI follows a definitive metadata standard for describing geographic information and therefore allows immediate creation of metadata content with the assurance of stability. It will be revised periodically to ensure that it retains compatibility with ISO 19115 and eGMS. Any future revision will be part of a planned process to take account of other relevant developments, and will not make existing users non-conforming or nullify existing investments in derived metadata records.

How can I obtain the UK GEMINI Profile?
The UK GEMINI Profile is freely available from both the gigateway and govTalk websites