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Metadata, the information we create, store, and share to describe things, allows us to interact with these things to obtain the knowledge we need. Often referred to as data that describes other data, metadata is structured reference data that helps to sort and identify attributes of the information it describes. Metadata is variously categorised based on the function it serves in information management. “Metadata summarises basic information about data, which can make it easier to find, use and reuse particular instances of data. Metadata contains descriptions of the page’s contents, as well as keywords linked to the content. This metadata is often displayed in search results by search engines, meaning its accuracy and details could influence whether or not a user decides to visit a site. This information is usually expressed in the form of meta tags.
Types of Metadata
- Administrative metadata allows administrators to impose rules and restrictions governing data access and user permissions. It also furnishes information on required maintenance and management of data resources. Often used in the context of ongoing research, administrative metadata includes such details as date created, file size and type, and archiving requirements.
- Descriptive metadata identifies specific characteristics of a piece of data, such as bibliographic data, keywords, song titles, volume numbers, etc.
- Legal metadata provides information on creative licensing, such as copyrights, licensing and royalties.
- Preservation metadata guides the placement of a data item within a hierarchical framework or sequence.
- Process metadata outlines procedures used to collect and treat statistical data. Statistical metadata is another term for process metadata.
- Provenance metadata, also known as data lineage, tracks the history of a piece of data as it moves throughout an organization. Original documents are paired with metadata to ensure that data is valid or to correct errors in data quality. Checking the provenance is a customary practice in data governance.
- Reference metadata relates to information that describes the quality of statistical content.
- Statistical metadata describes data that enables users to properly interpret and use statistics found in reports, surveys and compendium.
- Structural metadata reveals how different elements of a compound data object are assembled. Structural metadata is often used in digital media content, such as describing how pages in an audiobook should be organized to form a chapter, and how chapters should be organized to form volumes, and so on. The term “technical metadata” is a synonym most closely associated with items in digital libraries.
