Part I: Metadata

Part I: Metadata

1. Explore Metadata

   It is important to understand the opportunities and limitations of your input datasets before you begin working with them. We will do this by exploring the available metadata. As a geospatial professional, you will often be the only person reviewing this level of detail about the datasets. It will be your job to communicate what you find with the rest of your team.

   1. Use the links to metadata provided in the Lesson Data section to fill in the table below. Note: It is OK if you can’t find the answers to all of the questions for both data sets. This exercise is meant to demonstrate that finding the metadata you need is not always easy.

      Metadata

      Metadata	Imagery	Land cover
      Timeframe (Year or Range)
      Scale (1:x or cell size)
      Organization(s) that Created Data
      Organization Hosting Web Data
      Citation Information Requested by Data Provider
      Description of Coded Attribute Values Included? Y/N

      

      Were there particular pieces of information that were harder to find than others? Did you notice any differences in the quality and ease of use of different data provider’s websites?

      Note: Critical Thinking Questions are not graded. They are provided to help you think about the lesson concepts. I encourage you to share your thoughts on the lesson discussion forum.

2. Confirm your account on ArcGIS Online for Organizations

   Before you can access ArcGIS Online, you need to confirm your account. We will only have to do this once to have access for the rest of the semester. ArcGIS Online has a feature that helps us to manage a group such as this course. In order to take advantage of the Group features, I will need you to "Sign In" to the Penn State ArcGIS Online organization using your Penn State Username and Password. Follow the steps below to Sign In and confirm your account for the first time. There are directions at arcgis.com to create a Personal Account that you can use to complete this course. Note: If you are not enrolled in the class, you will not have access to Penn State’s ArcGIS Online for Organizations account.

   1. Go to ArcGIS Online and login using your university single sign-on account username and password:
      1. Go to ArcGIS Online and login using your Penn State Username and Password. URL: https://pennstate.maps.arcgis.com
      2. This should log you onto Penn State’s ArcGIS Online for Organizations account titled “ArcGIS Online at Penn State”
      3. Click on your name > My Profile (upper right) > My Settings > Licenses and confirm your “Role” as a “Publisher".
      4. Notify the instructor if you are not able to successfully complete this step.
   2. Begin Step #3 once you are able to sign in to the Penn State AGO Organization.
      

      Please do not log in using an account that you created outside of the program. According to Esri’s website, “you will transfer ownership of your items to Penn State's Online for Organizations” for any content that is saved in the account you log in with. This means that any instructors or students using the Penn State account will be able to have administrative rights to your preexisting content.

3. Confirm that you are also listed within our Geog487 Group.

   1. Click the “Groups” tab at the top of the Pennsylvania State University AGO Organization page. This will return a list of all of your Groups, or, you can type in GEOG487 into the search box and select the option that says “Search for Groups” and look for the current semester (e.g., GEOG487 Fall 1 2023).

      
      Note: There is a group for each semester. 

   2. Click on the group name to access our Group’s space.
   3. As the course progresses, we will be posting several assignments here for review and discussion.