(submitted on behalf of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority)
The FGDC metadata fields found under the "Data Quality" element should appear in the "Item Description" display of ArcGIS metadata:
Data quality:
-Attribute Accuracy
-Logical Consistency
-Completeness
-Position Accuracy
-Lineage
--Process Step
---Process Description
Business case:
The purpose of metadata is to provide a channel for a data provider to communicate vital information about GIS data to the data consumer. FGDC metdata is an accepted standard in which data providers have made an investment and with which data consumers are familiar.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority maintains metadata records for over 700 GIS data sets. Many of these data have important implications not only for conservation of this unique resource, but also safety of navigation and even issues of international jurisdiction. GBRMPA have invested hundreds of hours in the FGDC metadata standard specifically to make sure that users understand the appropriate use and limitations of these data.
By displaying by default such FGDC fields as those above, ESRI could both save customers hundreds of hours of rewriting metadata. Most importantly, ESRI would be cooperating with data providers and consumers to ensure against misuse of data which could be both costly and dangerous and which metadata standards are intended to combat.
