Item Description in ArcGIS Hub (Open Data Portals)

The ArcGIS item Description Metadata Style is a minimal set of elements that is used in the ArcGIS Online environment. This page describes the best practices for adding values to these elements.

The values in these fields will be indexed in ArcGIS Online and function as discovery metadata for users. You can either create this metadata in ArcCatalog or fill out the fields directly when publishing in ArcGIS Online. Some of this metadata (title, description, and access/use constraints) will also transfer to items published to ArcGIS Open Data Portals / HUB.

In ArcCatalog, the Item Description Metadata fields are found in OVERVIEW - Item Description.

Some fields have different names in different ArcGIS tools, and they are indicated by slashes below.

Elements that appear on ArcGIS Hub

Title

Theme, Where, When (e.g. City Zoning, Minneapolis, 2015)

Description

Description of content of the layer or the list of layers included in the service (could also include most important or unique attributes)
Purpose (why has this data been collected or the reason it is being made available)
Lineage (where the data came from and any changes that were made)
Temporal extent of data collection / time period that data represents
Special data characteristics or use limitations (e.g. excluded geographies, scale digitized)

Access and Use Constraints (when publishing a Map Document service)) / Use Limitation (ArcCatalog) / Terms of Use (on item page)

Adding a license for your data helps data users know how they can work with the data and when to give credit. You can add custom text specific to your organization or a standardized open data license..

“If you add a Creative Commons license (CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA) by either the name or URL, the dataset page will display the Creative Commons license icon and will link to the appropriate license details web page. If you add an Open Data Commons license (PDDL, ODbL, ODC-By) the dataset page will display the license name and link to the appropriate license details web page.” (from ESRI help documentation on preparing your data )

Elements that appear in ArcGIS Online, but not in ArcGIS Hub

Summary/Purpose

A very brief description about what the data is and (if applicable) how it relates to other maps or applications from the organization.

Tags / Keywords

Tags are used to make data more discoverable. Think about what words someone might use when searching for your layers. Avoid being too broad (e.g. “GIS”, “open data”), too narrow (e.g. project acronyms), and typos. If you are not sure what to choose, picking terms from a “dictionary” of disciplinary subjects can be a good place to start (e.g. ISO 19115 Topic Categories)

Credits

This is a general purpose field for citing contributors or external resources that the dataset was derived from. If the data you are publishing were created by a specific individual or derived from an outside source, cite it here. This metadata element is hidden on the Open Data Portal sites, so you may want to also provide this information as part of the description.

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