Making metadata usable in a multi-national research setting

SECOA (Solutions for Environmental Contrasts in Coastal Areas) is a multi-national research project examining the effects of human mobility on urban settlements in fragile coastal environments. This paper describes the setting up of a SECOA metadata repository for non-specialist researchers such as environmental scientists and tourism experts. Conflicting usability requirements of two groups – metadata creators and metadata users – are identified along with associated limitations of current metadata standards. A description is given of a configurable metadata system designed to grow as the project evolves. This work is of relevance for similar projects such as INSPIRE.