# On Metadata

I recently came across an email I'd sent to a client from a couple of years ago in response to their enquiry about whether they should implement a metadata system for their GIS.

Here was my response:

My general thoughts on metadata is that the demand for it is typically not driven by users, and anything that's not driven by users should be avoided.

However, if there is genuine demand from your users for metadata, then I'd start with a simple spreadsheet on the council intranet, and put a link to the spreadsheet wherever users might expect to find it. I wouldn't implement anything more complicated than that unless you could prove that users were getting value out of that.

The client responded with a thank-you.

As far as I know, they have not yet implemented a metadata system.

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