In the current financial year, the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN) team, as part of their 2019/2020 implementation plan, have committed to migrating their current GeoNetwork metadata catalogues from 2.10 to the latest stable release, and migrating the associated metadata from the Marine Community Profile (MCP) 1.4/2.0 to the new ISO 19115-3 standard.
It is a significantly large piece of work to be undertaken this year, and to date planning has been meticulous. Careful consideration of contributor requirements has played an important role in the planning and as a result a survey was distributed to AODN contributors in July 2019. The survey was designed to assess the current state of the contributor’s metadata catalogues and metadata standards used, and if any plans were in place for their own GeoNetwork and metadata transition. In conjunction with an audit of the usage of the MCP elements in metadata records, the results from the survey were analysed to determine how best to move forward.
The first objective of the project is to upgrade the following GeoNetwork metadata catalogues currently maintained by the AODN:
- The IMOS catalogue – the metadata catalogue documenting all IMOS metadata and data holdings
- The AODN catalogue – the metadata catalogue documenting both IMOS and AODN contributors metadata and data holdings.
- A non-public catalogue that drives the AODN Portal.
- Several “test” metadata catalogues for internal use.
Their relationship to each other (internal dependencies) and to our AODN contributors (external dependencies) have determined the order in which the upgrades will occur.
The second objective of the project is the transition from the MCP to the new ISO standard for the metadata content. The major implication for the AODN and other AODN Portal contributors is the use of some mandatory controlled vocabularies (e.g. data parameters, platform …) to populate specific metadata elements and to support faceted searching in step 1 of the AODN Portal. The AODN team has documented possible mappings for these much-needed elements to the new standard but also provided suggestions to handle other elements such as metadata code lists. During the last AODN Technical Advisory Group meeting in November 2019, the AODN team presented their intended approach regarding the two objectives of the project and positive feedback was received from the community. As a result of the meeting, a separate working group composed of several members of the AODN community has been initiated in order to further discuss the required mappings between MCP and new ISO standard.
For further information or questions please contact info(at)aodn.org.au