The NPS Metadata Tools & Editor can be used as a stand-alone tool or as an extension in ArcCatalog. This tutorial will include screenshots of the MTE within ArcCatalog.

Metadata can be edited in either the ArcCatalog Metadata Tab or the NPS Metadata Editor. Both editors access the same .xml metadata file. For this reason, changes made in the ArcCatalog Metadata Tab will be visible immediately when you click over to the NPS Metadata Editor Tab, and vice versa. The only exceptions to this rule are the sections that are not found in both the FGDC Standard and the NPS Profile. These sections include the NPS Info Section (Section 0) and a few Theme and Place Keywords that are found only in the NPS Profile and the Entity and Attribute Section, which is found only in the FGDC Standard.

As you become more familiar with the structure of metadata and the functions of the various editing tools, you will develop your own strategy for metadata creation. Feel free to move back and forth between the two editors discussed in these pages and any other editing tools you might find. See the Tools link in the navigation bar at right for links to other editing tools.

To access the NPS MTE Help files, click either of the About NPS Metadata Tools buttons and choose Help in the window that opens.