The 6 metadata types you need to know
| March 16, 2021
Metadata is a great way to sort and simplify important information, but there are variations to consider. Most lists give three basic types of metadata and call it a day. Not me. Instead, this article explains six of the most crucial types in detail, highlighting the numerous opportunities for organizations to leverage metadata management to improve data analytics and enhance overall data governance. Let’s begin with a brief rundown on what metadata is.
What is metadata?
A popular definition of metadata is “data that describes other data.” It’s a bit more complicated than that, as metadata is used extensively to sort and translate (so to speak) complex data into something more manageable and understandable.
When thinking about metadata, it all begins with the initial question about what metadata truly means.
With that definition in mind, let’s take a look at six types of metadata you’ll encounter.
Definition and Purpose
Metadata is a type of data that provides information about other data. It is not the content of the data itself, but rather information about it. Metadata is used to describe, categorize, and provide context to data, making it easier to find, use, and manage. The purpose of metadata is to provide a standardized way of describing data, enabling efficient data discovery, reuse, and analysis. By offering a structured approach to data description, metadata helps in organizing and interpreting vast amounts of information, ensuring that data can be easily accessed and utilized for various purposes.
History and Origins of Metadata
The term “metadata” was coined by Jack E. Myers in 1969. However, the concept of metadata has been around for much longer. In the 1960s, researchers began exploring ways to describe and organize data, leading to the development of early metadata standards. One of the most significant milestones in the history of metadata is the development of the Dublin Core standard in the 1990s. This standard, which is still widely used today, provides a simple yet effective framework for describing a wide range of digital resources. The evolution of metadata standards has been crucial in enabling consistent and efficient data management practices across various fields.
1. Descriptive metadata
Descriptive metadata is, in its most simplified version, an identification of specific data. This often refers to elements like titles, dates, and keywords. When a user downloads a video file, for example, the runtime of the film would be descriptive metadata.
Descriptive metadata is often the most commonly referenced and utilized metadata, since it is so accessible, visible, and relevant on popular file types.
It’s also one of the easier types of metadata to understand, and provides basic information about things, such as book titles, author name, date, etc. Descriptive metadata helps in classifying and retrieving information across different documents, making it easier to search and manage access to these documents. The only time descriptive metadata becomes more advanced or complex is when it’s being used to identify unique elements, such as code-driven projects and websites.
2. Structural metadata
Structural metadata gives information concerning a specific object or resource. This often relates to a piece of digital media. Here’s an illustrative example: A film in a DVD format has numerous sections. Each section has a certain length of film running time, and those sections fit together into the format in a certain order.
The handling and storage of photographs play a significant role in enhancing navigation and display through hierarchical relationships.
In a more broader sense, structural metadata records information about how a particular object or resource might be sorted. In the above example of the DVD, structural metadata would inform users of the correct placement of these sections on the disc.
3. Preservation metadata
Preservation metadata offers information that can strengthen the entire procedure of maintaining a certain digital object/file. This information may include vital details required for a system to communicate or interact with a specific file.
Preservation metadata upholds the integrity of a digital object or file from its start to finish, or until it’s no longer in use or necessary. It captures details such as the date a document was created or last modified, which aids in tracking changes made to documents, classification, and retrieval, making it essential for effective information management.
A common pattern involved is the PREMIS model (Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies). This brings forth common factors important to preservation and maintenance, including information that shows actions taken on a digital file or the rights attached to it.
4. Provenance metadata
The easiest way to think of provenance metadata is by first considering the definition of provenance, which is roughly “The earliest known history of something.”
With provenance metadata, this means that it’s most relevant when something changes or is duplicated frequently. Now, for physical objects this is much less important, as we do not duplicate these as often. However, in the digital realm, this happens all the time.
What makes provenance metadata so important is it provides data about a digital file or resource’s history, which helps track it over its lifecycle. Things provenance metadata might touch on are the companies or users who impacted a digital object and what types of things they did to it or methodologies they used. Additionally, understanding the relationships between data points, such as how different versions of a document are connected or how data tables interact, is crucial for effective data management and retrieval.
5. Use metadata
Use metadata is data that is sorted each time a user accesses and uses a specific digital piece of data. Use metadata is gathered in a clear and direct attempt to make potentially helpful predictions about a user’s future behavior.
Users can manually input relevant information to enhance the accuracy of metadata, which is crucial for organizing and identifying data attributes.
To demonstrate, consider a fictional bookstore that records their sales in a software system. The use metadata could offer insights into the store’s sales of a specific book.
For example, say they’ve been confused by the fluctuating sales of a book titled “The Summer Breezes Beautified.” Use metadata would tell them how many copies they sell each year, when customers are buying the book – including which weekday of the month and the time of day, and which books were purchased (if any) within the same transaction (by the same customer).
This information can reveal telling patterns. The bookstore might determine that “The Summer Breezes Beautified” is selling most when the weather outside is warmer. They might also make sales more often in the morning and daytime than at night. They could use this type of information to rearrange their store based on these data and encourage the patterns they find out about specific book sales.
6. Administrative metadata
Administrative metadata informs users what types of instructions, rules, and restrictions are placed on a file. This type of data helps administrators limit access to files based on the user qualifications. Administrative metadata is comprehensive – giving information about certain data as a whole from start to finish. This gives users a chance to administer a wide variety of data files, governed by specific procedures tailored to local project requirements.
Administrative metadata is like a basic version of a piece of data. Even if a particular data set is extremely complex, their metadata will be much more detailed. Thus, administrative metadata is about control – controlling these complex pieces and simplifying them for clarity.
Metadata in Practice
Metadata is used in various ways in practice, including:
Search Engines and Metadata
Search engines use metadata to index and rank web pages. Metadata tags, such as title, description, and keywords, provide information about a web page’s content, helping search engines understand its relevance and importance. When you perform a web search, the search engine relies on these metadata tags to determine which pages are most relevant to your query. By optimizing these tags, website owners can improve their search engine rankings and increase their visibility online. This process, known as search engine optimization (SEO), is essential for driving traffic to websites and ensuring that content is easily discoverable.
Closing thoughts
The many types of metadata help us make sense of our files and data, providing valuable information. By expanding your knowledge of all the different types of metadata, you increase the chances of reasonably sorting and preserving valuable data.
Geospatial metadata, for instance, includes detailed descriptions of geographic objects, outlining various attributes such as creation date, author, and specific data usage guidelines.