It is important to understand the meaning behind the axiom "Garbage in = garbage out!" (viz. if invalid data is entered into a system, the resulting output will also be invalid). It is essential to provide not only common metadata elements and share well established thesauri and classifications, but also to make sure the quality is well above par.
Metadata allows users to retrieve not only the resources related to the search query but also to obtain adequate information on the content of the resource, such as the date of publication, name of the author(s) or languages in which the content of the resource are available. This information is of even of greater importance when the actual resource is not available online but resides physically at a different location.
Collaborative efforts are needed to describe different types of resources. Metadata elements which are useful for the description of books are not necessarily the best for describing a shipping vessel in a fisheries' database. The AgMES project is challenging, but it will only be successful if conscientiously and continually maintained, applied and updated. Under the AgMES umbrella, other projects will be able to create new terms for other knowledge areas and for other types of information resources within the domain of agriculture. They will be represented and documented as they become available for reuse.
Ontologies open up new perspectives in information management because they have the potential to add new semantic-based features to an information system. However, the ontology is a new methodology and still in its infancy; common guidelines on ontology creation are not yet well established. Information specialists will have to combine their knowledge in information management with the domain specific expertise of subject specialists, and work closely together to achieve functional and successful results.
