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2.5 Layer metadata

2 star accreditation requirement

For a 2 star accredited service, ALL OneGeology layers must conform to these naming protocols.

The OneGeology Portal is layer-level based, rather than service-level based. It is the layer metadata that is shown to the users in the OneGeology Portal itself. It is therefore important to add as much metadata as possible to each of the layers. Even if most of your metadata is the same for your layers and for your service, you should replicate that data in the layer metadata.

It is worth starting this section by noting the differences between titles and names (applicable to services and layers) in the GetCapabilities response. A name is a short string (containing no spaces) used by computers to identify the data, whereas a title is a human readable phrase.

To simplify the rules for the user and to avoid name duplication in the registry, for the OneGeology Portal WMS profile, we RECOMMEND that layer titles and layer names are used to encapsulate exactly the same information. We suggest that the only difference being the style described above, and that we may shorten or abbreviate the information in the name. In the name we take any spaces that exist in the title and replace with the underscore character (_).

We recognize however that some services may require other naming conventions to fit in with other obligations for the service provider. In such cases the layer name and layer title need not follow the OneGeology layer protocols. Instead only the layer title needs to follow the protocol described below.

The metadata information REQUIRED by the layer title and RECOMMENDED for the layer name are (in order):

[Geographical extent] of the data in the layer, then [Data owner organization] (not service provider), then [Language code] (if non-default as per service naming conventions), then [Scale], then [Theme].

INSPIRE layer naming considerations

If your service falls under the INSPIRE naming conventions, then both the layer name and the layer title are fixed according to the legislation. For example the D2.8.II.4 Data Specification on Geology–Technical Guidelines tell us (section 11.1 ~ Layers to be provided by INSPIRE view services) that any layer to do with lithology or age must have the name GE.GeologicUnit and title Geologic Units. See the layer-naming discussion on the INSPIRE Thematic Clusters Geology forum for fuller details.

To have a multiple layer geology service that adheres to the INSPIRE naming rules we believe the only option is for you to configure group layering. In such a situation, the layer name and title rules set out in this and the following sections relate to the grouped (or sub layers). Whereas the INSPIRE name and title relate to the group (or parent) layer.

Section last modified: 21 October 2015

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