Metadata is information about data content. In HydroShare, metadata is required for creating and publishing data and models. See Using HydroShare Metadata to Describe Your Resource for more information on the standard, resource level metadata elements. In addition to resource level metadata, granularity may be added using content level metadata to describe files, folders, and file aggregations. This means that each file (or file aggregation) may have its own keywords, spatial and temporal coverage, and additional metadata specified by users. For recognized content types, content level metadata is automatically extracted from the content files where possible.
Resource Level Metadata
Some content types may contain metadata that is applicable at the resource level (i.e., title, abstract, authors, contributors, subject keyword and coverage information). In cases where HydroShare encounters these elements within content level metadata, they are added or appended to existing metadata at the resource level. Title and abstract are only added at the resource level if they are not already present, while authors, contributors, and subject keywords are appended to the existing lists. Users control inheritance of content level spatial and temporal coverage information from content files to the resource level through use of the buttons to “Set spatial coverage from content files” and “Set temporal range from content files,” which are available when in edit mode on the Resource Landing Page.
Content Level Metadata
Content level metadata is displayed in a panel to the right of the file browser/content area of the resource landing page. To add metadata for single files or folders, right click on that object in the file browser and select “Add metadata.” To add to or edit metadata for supported content types:
- Ensure you are in edit mode by clicking on the pencil icon at the top right of the Resource Landing Page.
- Navigate to the Content section on the page and highlight the object of interest in the file browser.
- In the Metadata panel at the right of the file browser, complete or edit the metadata.
If the information in the Metadata panel does not appear editable, check that you are in edit mode. If the Metadata panel indicates “No file type metadata exists for this file.” you may have selected a file that cannot hold content metadata, such as a member file of an existing content type, or single file or folder not set as a content type.