Metadata are literally ‘data about data’. They provide information on such aspects as the ‘who, what, where and when’ of data and can be considered from the perspective of both the data producer and the data consumer.

For the producer, metadata are used to document data in order to inform prospective users of their characteristics, while for the consumer, metadata are used to both discover data and assess their appropriateness for particular needs – their so-called ‘fitness for purpose’.

Metadata are usually made available in two levels of completeness: discovery and full. Discovery level metadata typically provide a minimum of essential information to enable a user to find out if a particular dataset exists, its location and ownership, and how to obtain further information. Full metadata include additional information on such aspects as data quality and lineage (provenance) and technical details for access and exploitation.

An important goal for GBIF is to develop the infrastructure needed across its network to support the management and delivery of the highest quality metadata that will enable potential end users to easily discover which datasets are available, and, critically, to evaluate the appropriateness of such datasets for particular purposes.

The metadata strategy will be aligned with plans for the more distributed architecture of a greatly expanded GBIF network, where the Participant Nodes play the crucial role of data publishing centres, with metadata as an essential requirement. The strategy must therefore be executed in close consultation with the Nodes, recognising their existing arrangements and future needs.