Docs

Define Metadata

Checklists/New/Metadata

Before a checklist can be packaged for GBIF, it needs metadata: the descriptive information a reader, or GBIF itself, sees before ever opening the species list.

The Checklist Summary screen, listing dataset summary, geographic scope, historical comparison, source summary, and checklist metadata fields

Click a step below to see it highlighted in the screenshot.

  1. 1

    What you fill in

    Dataset info (title, abstract), temporal coverage, geographic coverage, taxonomic coverage, methods, contributors, publishing organization, and funding & support.

  2. 2

    What's already filled in

    Species, family, order, and genera counts, the source-by-source record totals, and the classification breakdown are pulled straight from the data you've already gathered on the Workbench— you're reviewing them, not typing them in.

  3. 3

    Completion tracked live

    The sidebar checklist (Title Complete, Abstract Provided, Taxonomy Scope, Geography Set, Temporal Valid, Authors Added) flips to Ready only once every required field is in place.

What each section covers

  • Dataset Summary — species, family, order, and genera counts, computed from the checklist itself.
  • Geographic Scope — the region the checklist covers, carried over from when the checklist was first defined.
  • Historical Comparison — a link to a previous publication of the same checklist, if one exists, so a reviewer can see what changed.
  • Source Summary — a record count per source (GBIF, eBird, iNaturalist, and any others used), tallied automatically.
  • Checklist Metadata— dataset info, temporal coverage, geographic coverage, taxonomic coverage, methods, contributors, publishing organization, and funding & support. These are the fields you fill in directly.
WorkbenchDarwin Core Format