Metadata standard interoperability: application in the geographic information domain

Abstract The use of metadata expands on the opportunities for interoperability. Interoperability involves making multiple information sources access, manipulate and share data across their boundaries. Metadata descriptions from different domains are not semantically distinct but overlap and relate to each other in complex ways. As the number, size and complexity of the metadata standards grow, the task of facilitating metadata in different standards becomes more difficult and tedious. A possible solution for this problem is the creation of mechanisms that enable the translation of this information in order to make it conform to the different standards. These mechanisms are denominated “crosswalks” and the objective of this work is to present the process of “crosswalk-creation”, which has been used by a research team at the University of Zaragoza in order to translate information among some of the most extended standards for geographic information metadata.