FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
FENIX METADATA
Overview of key concepts and features
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
Objectives
• Efficiently document FAO and non-FAO resources
(datasets, geospatial data, texts, etc.) and provide users
with comprehensive metadata
• Make resources available and searchable through the
FENIX catalog
• Enable data and metadata exchange using the main
metadata standard specifications such as SDMX, DDI,
ISO, DCMI
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
Metadata creation process
• Review the metadata specifications of the main
international standards (SDMX, DDI, ISO, DCMI)
• Select key metadata elements from the above sources
and define the FENIX metadata specs, taking into
account the application requirements
• Consider compatibility issues with other metadata (e.g.
different codelists, metadata fields, etc.) to enable
import/export in different metadata formats
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
Applicability of the FENIX metadata
• Designed to describe any resource (e.g. datasets, GIS
layers, satellite images, text, documents, etc.) and not just
datasets
• Able to describe any data structure
• Allows flexible use of coding/classification systems for
describing metadata concepts
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
Resources described by the metadata
• Dataset: an identifiable collection of data organized in a
statistical data matrix
• Geographic layer: collection of geo-referenced data
described through the raster or vector model
• Codelist: predefined list of numeric or alphanumeric
codes and definitions (labels) from which statistical
concepts take their values
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
Metadata components
• Descriptive metadata: provides information about the
content, methodologies, distribution policies related to the
resource
• Data Structure Definition (DSD): describes the structure
of the data
• Codelists: predefined list of numeric or alphanumeric
codes and definitions (labels) from which statistical
concepts take their values
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
Metadata concepts and nomenclature
• Uses the Unified Modelling Language (UML) syntax to describe relationships between metadata
components
• Based on two main features: single metadata concepts (named “metadata elements“) and groups of
related metadata elements (“metadata entities“ indicated with the prefix “ME_”). Each metadata
entity deals with a specific aspect of the metadata (e.g. data quality, data distribution, etc.).
• Metadata entities may include sub-entities indicated with the prefix “SE_”.
• The target of the metadata (i.e. the dataset, map, text described by the metadata) is called
“resource" and an instance of the metadata describing a specific resource is called “metadata
record".
• A set of metadata elements that occur more than once are define an “Object“, indicated with the
prefix “OJ_”. An example of an object is the set of information describing a contact (i.e. name,
organization, tel. no., email, etc.). Objects are linked to metadata entities through the “Objectreference" data type.
• The document “Suggested codelists for FENIX metadata (FENIX/tech/MD/02)" provides details of the
coding systems suggested for FENIX metadata.
• The description of the metadata elements includes a) the name of the element (marked with the
symbol << >>), b) its denition, c) information on whether it is mandatory, optional or conditional, d)
the relevant data type and e) its “friendly name" (alias) that will be displayed in the user interface.
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
FENIX metadata structure
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
FENIX metadata structure
• ME_Identification: the unique identifier of the metadata record and the link to the associated data.
• ME_Content: summary of the content of the dataset and the description of the geographical and sector coverage.
• ME_InstitutionalMandate: describes the responsibility and the authority of an organization for the collection,
processing, and dissemination of data.
• ME_StatisticalProcessing: the statistical process and transformation used to derive the data.
• ME_DataQuality: description and evaluation of the data quality (quality assurance process).
• ME_Accessibility: details about distribution of data and their sharing mechanism.
• ME_Maintenance: information on the available revisions of the resource and the frequency of data updates.
• ME_Documents: links publications, news or other relevant material to the resource.
• ME_ResourceStructure: lists the values of the dimensions of the resource.
• ME_SpatialRepresentation: information about the mechanism to represent spatial information both in grid and vector
formats.
• ME_ReferenceSystem: temporal, coordinate and geographic identifiers; transformations and conversions parameters
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
FENIX metadata structure
<<title>> is a textual label used as identification of the resource.
(mandatory – data type: free text)
<<contact>> provides details of the party(ies) responsible for the metadata information.
(mandatory – data type: sequence <OJ_ResponsibleParty>[paragraph 6.1.])
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
FENIX metadata structure
OJ_Contact
OJ_ResponsibleParty
+name: free text (M)
+organization: free text (M)
+organizationUnit: free text (O)
+position: free text (O)
+contactInfo: OJ_Contat (M)
+role: multipleChoice
+phone: free text (C)
+address: free text (C)
+emailAddress: free text (C)
+hoursOfService: free text (O)
+contactInstruction: free text (O)
Role
Owner
Distributor
Other
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
Alignment with SDMX metadata
• A matching table between the FENIX metadata and
SDMX is available.
• The FENIX metadata does not represent all SDMX
elements (too many), but a functional subset
• The FENIX metadata includes some elements not
implemented by SDMX (e.g. the geospatial entities)
• Differences in data types may occur between SDMX and
the FENIX metadata: i.e. some of the free-text elements in
SDMX are coded in FENIX
FAO Statistics Division – FENIX Documentation
Alignment with ISO metadata
• The alignment between the ISO 19115 and the FENIX
metadata is in progress.
• The geospatial metadata entities (Reference System and
Spatial Representation) of the FENIX metadata are
entirely derived from the ISO standard
• Similarly to SDMX, inconsistencies may occur at the level
of data type