07 - Metadata#
You can provide feedback to this course on GitHub
Who is this course for and what can you learn?#
This course is aimed at researchers, who want to
- publish their data on the OEP
- provide metadata along with their energy data
After reading the sections of this training course you will know
- what OEMetadata are and how they are structured
- where to find data with OEMetadata and how to create your own
- how to upload, download and edit OEMetadata
- how to use the different tools available for OEMetadata
Introduction: What is Metadata?#
Metadata, in simple terms, refer to data about data. They provide valuable information regarding the characteristics, properties, and context of a specific data item. Metadata answer the questions of "who, what, when, where, and how" related to the data. Metadata plays a crucial role in organizing, managing, and understanding information.
What is the Open Energy Metadata?#
- Open Energy Metadata (OEMetadata) describe a metadata standard used to annotate energy related data
- The development of OEMetadata is a community effort and takes place on GitHub
- In the following sections of this course we have collected information on how to use the standard
- There is a short tutorial on how to get started with OEMetadata
What's the meaning of all the metadata keys?#
- The OEMetadata repository provides a comprehensive list of keys, along with their meanings and examples of their uses, in the key description section.
How can I work with OEMetadata?#
- Tutorial to create OEMetaData This tutorial gives a detailed description on how to create and modify OEMetaData (with the OEOMetaDataBuilder).
- A guide on publishing data on the OEP includes the creation of metadata
- For all datasets on the Open Energy Platform (OEP), you can look at provided metadata by clicking on "Meta Information"
- If you are the owner of the dataset, you can click "edit" and you're directly working on the OEMetadata
What other tools to work with OEMetadata are there?#
- A tool for metadata conversion and integration is
OMI - An additional helpful tool for publishing a set of data with associated metadata is oem2orm. It can translate table descriptions from metadata into a database structure via an object relational mapper. That way it can take a valid pair of data and metadata and upload it directly to the OEP. The structures of both need to be valid.
- The
oep clientis a tool that can create, upload, download and delete tables. It also downloads and updates metadata. It's more versatile than oem2orm but less focussed on metadata. There is a tutorial using the oep-client to upload some data and metadata - How to Validate that your metadata is a datapackage
Supplementary material and further readings#
- A poster that describes the structure of the OEMetadata and their relation to the Open Energy Ontology:
- [Poster] Open Energy Metadata (OEMetadata): Publishing Energy Data Enriched with Ontology References
- A presentation that describes the ontology structure in detail and puts it in broader context
- [Presentation] Capacity building session - Hülk - Publication of FAIR Data and Metadata:
About this course#

- Title: Course 07 - Metadata
- Authors: Ludwig Hülk, Christian Hofmann, Christian Winger, Hannah Förster, Vismaya Jochem
- License: CC-BY-4.0
- Copyright: Reiner Lemoine Institut
- Attribution: Reiner Lemoine Institut (2023)
- Link: https://openenergyplatform.github.io/academy/courses/07_metadata/
- Description: A guide on what metadata is and how to work with metadata on the OEP.
- ProficiencyLevel:
- TargetGroup:
- Keywords: OEP, metadata, workflow
- Language: en
- PublicationDate: 2023-06-07
- Last update: 2025-10-30
- You can provide feedback to this course on GitHub: https://github.com/OpenEnergyPlatform/academy/issues/187 on GitHub
About this course#

- Title: Course 02 - How to get started with the Open Energy Family and Platform
- Authors: Hannah Förster
- License: CC-BY-4.0
- Copyright: Öko-Institut (2023)
- License: CC BY 4.0
- Attribution: Öko-Institut (2023): How to get started with the Open Energy Family and Platform.
- Link: https://openenergyplatform.github.io/academy/courses/07_metadata/
- Description: A guide on whatmetadata and how to work with metadata on the OEP.
- ProficiencyLevel:
- TargetGroup:
- Keywords: OEP, Login, Access
- Language: en
- PublicationDate: 2023-04-17
- Last update: 2025-10-30
- You can provide feedback to this course on GitHub: https://github.com/OpenEnergyPlatform/academy/issues/164