ISO 19115 Geographic Metadata Implementation Training Course

Course overview

Geospatial organisations often hold valuable datasets that cannot be found, assessed or reused because their metadata is incomplete, inconsistent or tied to local conventions. ISO 19115 provides a common structure for describing geographic datasets, services, series and applications, but implementation requires more than filling in a catalogue form. Teams must make defensible decisions about identifiers, lineage, spatial and temporal extent, quality statements, constraints, responsible parties and controlled keywords. This course helps practitioners turn the standard into a workable metadata operating method for their organisation.

Participants learn how ISO 19115-1 content requirements, ISO 19115-3 XML encoding and profile rules fit together in a real metadata workflow. They create metadata records for vector, raster and remote-sensing products; define mandatory, conditional and optional elements; document data quality and processing lineage; apply geographic and temporal extents; manage codelists and controlled vocabularies; and validate records before publication. The course also addresses implementation decisions for catalogues, metadata profiles, governance roles and migration from existing records.

Delivery combines instructor-led explanation of the standard with guided record-building exercises in QGIS and GeoNetwork. Participants work through a realistic organisational catalogue case, inspect existing datasets, draft a profile matrix, encode and validate records, and review records against discovery and reuse requirements. Each participant leaves with a completed ISO 19115 metadata record set, a profile decision worksheet and an implementation action plan that can be adapted for their own data holdings.

The course is suited to GIS, remote-sensing, data-management and information-governance professionals who need to publish trustworthy geospatial information internally, through national spatial data infrastructures or via public data portals.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Interpret ISO 19115-1 requirements for datasets, dataset series, services and applications
• Create an ISO 19115 metadata record for vector, raster and remote-sensing datasets
• Define mandatory, conditional and optional elements in an organisational metadata profile
• Document processing lineage, source datasets and data-quality statements using ISO 19115 elements
• Apply geographic bounding boxes, temporal extents, coordinate reference information and descriptive keywords
• Encode and inspect ISO 19115-3 XML metadata using namespaces, codelists and element hierarchies
• Validate metadata records in GeoNetwork and resolve common completeness, format and controlled-vocabulary errors
• Produce a metadata implementation plan covering governance roles, catalogue workflows and record maintenance

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• GIS Managers — who need consistent metadata rules across datasets, teams and catalogue systems
• GIS Analysts — who create and publish datasets that colleagues and external users must discover and assess
• Remote Sensing Specialists — who must document imagery acquisition, processing chains and product quality
• Spatial Data Managers — who govern enterprise geodatabases and need auditable metadata maintenance processes
• Data Governance Officers — who must establish ownership, standards compliance and lifecycle controls for geospatial assets
• Spatial Data Infrastructure Coordinators — who publish interoperable records to organisational, national or sector catalogues

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable working with digital geographic data and should understand basic GIS concepts such as vector and raster datasets, coordinate reference systems, layers, attribute tables and map extents. Familiarity with QGIS or another desktop GIS is helpful because exercises use dataset properties and catalogue-ready records. Participants should also be able to read simple XML tags, although XML authoring experience is not assumed. No prior knowledge of ISO 19115, GeoNetwork administration, programming, database design or remote-sensing analysis is required. Complete beginners in GIS should first gain practical experience opening, inspecting and describing spatial datasets.

Training methodology

The instructor uses short standard-focused briefings followed by guided work on progressively richer metadata records. Participants inspect sample vector, imagery and derived-product datasets in QGIS, then create and validate records in GeoNetwork using an ISO 19115 profile. Case discussions examine ambiguous issues such as inherited lineage, access constraints and keyword selection. Small groups review each other's records against a quality checklist, identifying records that may technically validate but still fail user discovery needs. The final workshop converts the exercises into a practical profile, governance and rollout plan for each participant's workplace.

Course outline

Day 1: ISO 19115 foundations and metadata purpose

• Metadata as evidence for discovery, evaluation, access and reuse
• ISO 19115-1 scope, information model and resource types
• Relationships between ISO 19115-1, ISO 19115-3 and ISO 19157
• Dataset, series, service and application metadata distinctions
• Core identification information and citation elements
• Responsible parties, roles, persistent identifiers and record ownership
• Mandatory, conditional and optional metadata element logic

Workshop: Participants audit a set of poorly described GIS datasets and produce a gap list mapped to ISO 19115 identification requirements.

Day 2: Creating discoverable dataset metadata

• Title, abstract and purpose statements for geospatial discovery
• Descriptive keywords, thesauri and controlled vocabulary selection
• Geographic bounding boxes, polygons and vertical extent metadata
• Temporal extent, publication dates and maintenance frequency
• Spatial representation type, resolution and scale information
• Coordinate reference system and reference-system identifier documentation
• Distribution formats, online resources and access-point metadata

Workshop: Using QGIS dataset properties and source files, participants create a discovery-ready metadata record for a vector planning dataset.

Day 3: Quality, lineage and remote-sensing documentation

• ISO 19115 data-quality elements and links to ISO 19157
• Lineage statements, process steps and source citation methods
• Documenting positional, thematic, temporal and completeness limitations
• Remote-sensing acquisition details and sensor-product context
• Raster processing chains, classification methods and derived products
• Usage limitations, legal constraints and security classifications
• Metadata for dataset series and regularly updated observation products

Workshop: Participants document lineage and quality for a satellite-derived land-cover product, producing a reviewable processing-history statement.

Day 4: Profiles, XML encoding and catalogue validation

• Organisational metadata profiles and element obligation matrices
• ISO 19115-3 XML namespaces, packages and root elements
• Codelists, code-space values and controlled-entry consistency
• Record creation and editing workflows in GeoNetwork
• Schema validation, completeness checks and catalogue error messages
• Importing, exporting and reviewing ISO 19115-3 XML records
• Metadata quality checks for interoperability and user-centred discovery

Workshop: Participants configure a profile decision matrix, encode selected fields in ISO 19115-3 XML and correct validation errors in GeoNetwork.

Day 5: Operational implementation and governance

• Metadata lifecycle stages from data creation to archive or retirement
• Roles for creators, custodians, reviewers, publishers and catalogue administrators
• Metadata review checklists and acceptance criteria
• Batch population, legacy-record remediation and migration priorities
• Catalogue publication workflows and interoperability with SDI portals
• Maintenance schedules, change triggers and version-control practices
• Implementation roadmaps, measures and adoption risks

Workshop: Participants assemble a completed metadata package and a 90-day ISO 19115 implementation action plan for an organisational dataset collection.

Tools & standards covered

ISO 19115-1:2014, ISO 19115-3, GeoNetwork, QGIS

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions