The simplest way to publish a description of your dataset is to publish DCAT metadata using RDFa. RDFa allows machine-readable metadata to be embedded in a webpage. This means that publishing your dataset metadata can be easily achieved by updating the HTML for your dataset homepage.

Abstract GeoDCAT-AP is an extension of the DCAT application profile for data portals in Europe (DCAT-AP) for describing geospatial datasets, dataset series, and services. Its basic use case is to make spatial datasets, dataset series, and services searchable on general data portals, thereby making geospatial information better findable across borders and sectors. For this purpose, GeoDCAT-AP provides an RDF vocabulary and the corresponding RDF syntax binding for the union of metadata elements of the core profile of ISO 19115:2003 and those defined in the framework of the INSPIRE Directive of the European Union.

DCAT is an RDF vocabulary designed to facilitate interoperability between data catalogs published on the Web. This document defines the schema and provides examples for its use. DCAT enables a publisher to describe datasets and data services in a catalog using a standard model and vocabulary that facilitates the consumption and aggregation of metadata from multiple catalogs. This can increase the discoverability of datasets and data services. It also makes it possible to have a decentralized approach to publishing data catalogs and makes federated search for datasets across catalogs in multiple sites possible using the same query mechanism and structure. Aggregated DCAT metadata can serve as a manifest file as part of the digital preservation process.

Currently, DataCite is the de facto standard for data citation. Therefore, the ability to transform metadata records from and to the DataCite metadata schema would enable, respectively, the harvesting of DataCite records, and the publication of metadata records in the DataCite infrastructure (thus enabling their citation).