In this paper cardinality κ
collections of open covers of a topological space satisfying various conditions are
studied. When κ = ω some of the conditions are equivalent to the space being
metrizable and the union of a compact set and a discrete set. For a metrizable space
some of the conditions are equivalent to complete metrizability. If κ≠ω then the
relationship between some of the conditions and the existence of scales is
examined.