ezEML is a form-based online application designed to streamline the creation of metadata in the Ecological Metadata Language (EML). If you're not sure what we mean by metadata,
or if you've never heard of EML, please see the Some Terminology section of the User Guide.
Since the EML standard was designed to handle an enormous variety of data scenarios, EML is complex and the learning curve to creating it can be steep.
But many data scenarios require only a relatively small subset of EML, and in such scenarios ezEML can greatly simplify the process of
creating EML, especially for users who are new to EML or use it only infrequently.
ezEML can be used as a “wizard” leading the user through EML document creation step by step, or it can be used in a more user-directed fashion.
Among other things, it supports checking the EML for correctness and completeness, importing EML content from other ezEML documents, uploading data tables and inferring most of their characteristics, and
downloading the finished EML document as an EML XML file for downstream use in a data workflow.
ezEML was created by the Environmental Data Initiative (EDI).
It employs EDI's Metapype library, which is a general-purpose framework for creating and validating metadata, along with Metapype’s implementation of validation rules for the EML 2.2.0 standard.
ezEML is aimed at the “long tail” of scientists and others who want to prepare their dataset for submission to a data repository but are not themselves proficient in the details of EML editing. ezEML is designed to give such users a do-it-yourself tool that can handle the great majority of typical datasets.
You can use ezEML as a "wizard" (i.e., by proceeding through the sections in sequence, filling out the metadata as you go), or you can click on any of the links under Contents to jump directly to that section of the metadata.
Metadata errors found. Click the badge for details.
Metadata warnings found. Click the badge for details.
Metadata entered; no errors or warnings found.
No metadata entered, and metadata is not required.
Watch a short video about using status badges here:
In the Contents menu on the left, and elsewhere in ezEML, you'll see round colored "badges." These badges indicate the presence of errors (red) or warnings (yellow), or their absence (green).
The yellow and red badges are usually clickable, as indicated by a tooltip that appears when you hover on them. Clicking them causes the relevant errors/warnings to be displayed, and the errors/warnings themselves are clickable, taking you directly to the item in question.
Your goal in editing an ezEML data package should be to enter all required or
recommended metadata and make corrections until, at the minimum, no red badges remain.
Even better would be to get rid of all warnings, as well, and thereby make all badges green.
For green badges, there's nothing to display, so they're not clickable.
Watch a short demo video here:
Color Key for Status Badges
Metadata errors found. Click the badge for details.
Metadata warnings found. Click the badge for details.
Metadata entered; no errors or warnings found.
No metadata entered, and metadata is not required.
Got it. Don't show this dialog again.
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