The project was initiated by the Alaska Data Integration working group in 2012. ADIwg was formed in 2010 to identify technical solutions that would allow the sharing of project and data metadata between organizations conducting scientific research in Alaska. In response to Alaska’s Arctic location and member organization’s frequent international research collaborations, ADIwg initiated development of metadata authoring tools for ISO 19115+ with a design intention to collectively solve the problem for the community, such that all members benefit in transitioning to the ISO standard, whether single PIs or large organizations.

Development has been carried out by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Science Center and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) Alaska Region, with support from respective parent bureaus. The first release was offered in 2016.

In 2021 a partnership agreement was established between two federal Dept. of Interior agencies: USGS and FWS to collaboratively support mdToolkit development. The two agencies intend to use mdToolkit as part of their technical solution for authoring and managing metadata in the ISO 19115+ standards. Other DOI agencies, such as BOEM, are participants in the partnership. mdToolKit continues to be offered to the community at large.

Founding community of federal, state, cooperative and private organizations in Alaska: USGS, AOOS, FWS, BOEM, NPS, Nunatech, University of Alaska, State of Alaska, IARPC, NPRB, NSSI. Development of community project metadata standards. 2010-2016.

USGS. Founder of the project, Co-Chief Architect, developer of mdTranslator. Active 2012-2019.

FWS. Co-Chief Architect, developer of mdEditor, mdJSON, mdProfiles, mdTools. Project Manager through initial releases. Active 2012-2020.

FWS. Co-Project Manager, FWS representative. 2013-present.

USGS. Co-Project Manager, USGS representative. 2012-present.

Awesome financial contributions.