<html>
<head>
<style><!--
.hmmessage P
{
margin:0px;
padding:0px
}
body.hmmessage
{
font-size: 10pt;
font-family:Verdana
}
--></style>
</head>
<body class='hmmessage'>
<BR><BR>The following is an interesting observation on metadata from the draft report <BR><EM>Engage - Getting on with Government 2.0</EM> of the Government 2.0 Taskforce<BR>
(Page 60):<BR><BR><BR>
<P align=left></P>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=7 width=554 border=1>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top height=21><B>
Box 10: Reducing Metadata Paralysis by Choosing Simpler Metadata Sets </B><BR><BR></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top height=270><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times New Roman">It is acknowledged that metadata assists with search, discovery and access for data sets. However, in the case of spatial data, a certain level of ‘metadata paralysis’ can be observed where some agencies focus on completing a full metadata record as an absolute prerequisite before publication of the data set. This reduces the speed with which data is made available to the public. <BR> <BR>SIBA recommends mandating the use of minimal metadata requirements for spatial datasets as one of the key mechanisms for making more government data searchable and usable, including legacy data. SIBA also recommends the use of standards based metadata capture and access capabilities and related tools, which reduce the effort to create metadata. <BR> <BR><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt" size=1>Information supplied to the Taskforce by the Spatial Industries Business Association (Australia) (SIBA). </FONT></FONT><BR></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<BR> <BR> <BR>The entire draft report can be read at: <A href="http://gov2.net.au/">http://gov2.net.au/</A><BR> </body>
</html>