Metadata Readings/Resources
FGDC Standard - See "Geospatial Metadata Quick Guide" PDF file
Top Ten Metadata Errors (FDGC) - See Top Ten Metadata Errors PDF file
Notes on entering metadata in ArcGIS and ArcInfo and tips for metadata construction in practice
In ArcGIS Desktop Help go to the Contents tab and read:
ArcCatalog : Working with Metadata : Metadata in ArcCatalog
ArcCatalog : Working with Metadata : Using the FGDC metadata editor
Make sure you expand the bullets and read the content under each section on the above two main pages.
On the "Using the FGDC metadata editor" page, follow the link to "Learn more about using the FGDC metadata editor to document your data", click on the 11 items in the blue sidebar and read the page contents.
Online help at ESRI - http://support.esri.com
Notes on data documentation in ArcGIS (see notes here for most important elements to document)
United States - boundary dataset and metadata
