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Metadata Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What metadata is required for all web content?

A: The required metadata fields are:

• Title: Title is particularly important, since it is used so extensively. Include critical search terms in the title. Don't use acronyms.
• Description: A short description of the content, up to 192 characters are allowed. The description should be succinct, yet add substantive information beyond what’s available in the title. Often you can find an existing sentence in the first paragraph off the document. (see example below)
• Open Keywords: Additional term(s), not in a taxonomy, which an author or editor believes is important for retrieval, up to 48 characters per keyword. Examples include "the green book" or "eROE."
• Agency Function: Government Service or related to the mission of the Agency. Examples include: "Prevent Pollution" or "Research and Development."
• Information Type/Content Type: Field that indicates what type of information this is. For example, Factsheets or Data Files and Maps.
• Channel: Short list of content distribution and publication channels for the top level of the information architecture.Choices are:
  • Laws & Regulations - Materials and content related to the legal and regulatory responsibilities and programs of the agency. Including, but not limited to, compliance and enforcement activities, guidance, regulatory development, permitting programs, etc.
  • Science & Technology - Materials, tools and content and related to the scientific, technical and research activities of the agency. Including, but not limited to, methods, models, research programs and plans, laboratories, software and databases, science products, etc.
  • Learn the Issues - Educational and consumer information as well as general or basic information related to all topics. Including, but not limited to, health and safety information, environmental emergency information and contacts, household management information (e.g. energy efficiency, recycling and waste reduction, chemical use and storage info, etc.), local information, etc.
  • About EPA.- Information about the agency itself. Including, but not limited to, information about its leadership, its organization, its budget, its strategic plans, etc.

  Note: General content specific to legal, scientific or agency topics may be tagged as both Learn the Issues and Science & Technology OR Laws & Regulations OR About EPA, however content that is specific to one of the other channels should not be categorized using the Learn the Issues channel.
  

Q: How do I found out what metadata is on my pages right now?

A: Check the Northern Light Utilities page in the Metadata Section.

:Q: Do I need metadata in the Web CMS for GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, TXT, XLS, etc file types?

A: No. You only need the full metadata for htm/l and PDF files. The other files have file properties, such as Alt text, but do not get Channels or the other required metadata fields.

Q: What do I need to do to prepare for a move to the WebCMS?

A: Here's a nice overview of best practices (ppt., April 2009) you can follow.

1. Clean up ROT. There are Rottweiler reports available for each tssms to help identify ROT.
   • Evaluate your inventory and decide what moves to the new environment. There is a cost to move files.
   • NOTE: Don't forget to check and repair broken links after cleaning up ROT. Maxamine reports contain broken link information.
   • Overview of ROT (.ppt; April 2009)
2. Clean the code. This step can be done with your own people or contractors.
   • Tidy Site Scan Reports for each TSSMS.
     • Review PreTidy Errors (left sidebar link on individual reports)
     • PreTidy Errors include illegal file names. The PreTidy list shows HTML file names with spaces, & and other punctuation that create illegal file names.
     • Other file formats with spaces, & and other punctuation are also going to be a problem. Only way to find it currently is the inventory list in the ROT reports.
     • Tidy Errors. For our purposes only the errors matter, ignore the warnings.
     • If you would like a TIDY scan rerun for a tssms (after clean up), send a request to Judy Dew or Susan Fagan.
     • Tidy Reports are also publicly available.
3. Request your metadata spreadsheet. The metadata spreadsheet is prepopulated for existing content. All migrated content requires metadata. Technical assistance is available. Contact Susan Fagan.
4. Identify primary folder name and structure
   • Think about what the folder layout your area.
   • Identify the folder administrator for your web area.
   • Think about the roles in the WebCMS (.doc) and who should be in which role.
5. Identify funding and resources for migration.
6. Attend training and webinars for the WebCMS.

Q: When will I get my metadata spreadsheet with all of my files on it?

A: You will get your metadata spreadsheet about 6 weeks before you are scheduled to migrate. We can't give it you earlier for a couple of reasons.

Q: What's an example of a good title?
A: Grant Application Forms

Q: What's an example of a bad title?
A: Grants

Q: What's an example of a good description?
A: As part of efforts to improve preparedness and the ability to respond to terrorist attacks, EPA has been called upon to play a strategic role in homeland security. (http://epa.gov/region8/homelandsecurity.html)

Q: What's an example of a bad description?
A: repeating the title

Q:Why is there no "general public" term in the audience facet?
A: Because it does not add value. All of our public access pages, unless otherwise specified, are for the general public. What we want to do is note those pages that are for a specific subset of the general public, such as Kids or Businesses. Having that metadata will allow us to create collections of those audience segmented content in the future.

Q: Help with Content Types

Content Type	Scope Note
Announcements & Schedules	News, News releases, Calendars, Comment schedules, Meeting Agendas, Requests for Proposals, job announcements, etc.
Collections & Lists	Lists of links, bibliographies, recommended resource lists, hubs, etc.
Contact Information	A list of the addresses, phone/FAX numbers, and affiliations of a specific individual, group of people, companies, organizations, publications, etc. May include additional information such as professional titles or credentials.
Data & Tools	Models, Methods, Maps, Data Files, Databases, Glossaries, Software, Tutorials, etc.
Overviews & Factsheets	Factsheets, Frequent Questions pages, Basic Info pages, etc.
Policies & Guidance	Internal and external policies, guidance and guidelines related to agency operations and/or regulatory compliance & enforcement. Includes proposed rules, MOUs, Judicial Decisions, International Agreements, etc.
Reports & Assessments	In-depth information, toxicity assessments, budgets, strategic plans, conference proceedings, etc.
Speeches, Testimony & Transcripts	A written record of dictated or recorded speech. Includes correspondence.

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