metadata

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Dictionary

metadata

(1) (meta-data) Data that describes other data. For example, data dictionaries and repositories provide information about the data elements in a database (see data dictionary). Digital cameras...

Dictionary

Definition: metadata

(1) (meta-data) Data that describes other data. For example, data dictionaries and repositories provide information about the data elements in a database (see data dictionary). Digital cameras store meta-data in the image files that include the date the photo was taken along with camera settings (see EXIF). Digital music files contain meta-data such as song title and artist name (see ID3 tag). Meta-data are stored in an HTML page (Web page) to help search engines define the page properly, and most especially, make it rank higher in the results list (see meta tag).

Meta-data has existed for centuries. Card catalogs and handwritten indexes are examples long before the electronic age. See Meta Data Coalition.

The Most Glaring Lack of Meta-Data
The music CD should have been designed with meta-data, such as album name, artist and song titles. With 650 million bytes of storage, a few thousand could have easily been reserved for future use. In the early 1980s, readouts to display this information were expensive, and the future was not considered. The result was a circuitous route of searching by track length for the missing data on the Internet when a CD was played on the computer (see CDDB), as well as conflicts in older stand-alone CD players when meta-data was finally added to the format.

(2) (The Metadata Company, Brentwood, TN, www.metadata.com). Formerly Metadata Information Partners, it is a software firm specializing in data management products as well as providing consulting and custom information systems to the healthcare and government industries. Although the term "metadata," spelled the same with lower case "m," is widely used to refer to data about data (see definition #1 above), the company trademarked the word in 1986 and was granted "incontestable" status in 1991.



Sponsored White Papers, Webcasts & Resources

  • Remove tell-tale metadata from Microsoft apps

    When you send a Word document to a client or a co-worker, you are also sending metadata - info about the document - as well. You can easily include embarrassing comments, hidden text or info...

    Blog posts | December 17, 2007 2:56pm PST

  • The next big thing: User-contributed metadata

    We know all about user-generated content, masses of users contributing to burgeoning Web corpus. It's a manifestation of Web 2.0, the participatory Net, which companies like Google (YouTube),...

    Blog posts | October 29, 2007 6:56am PDT

  • Metadata exposes government secrets

    Microsoft Word might be easy to use and feature-rich but goverment employees who use it for sensitive documents may well be publishing redacted, restricted or even classified information.

    Blog posts | April 13, 2006 2:07pm PDT

  • GCN's Temin on the metadata problem and switching to Web services model

    Government Computer News editor Tom Temin answered questions in an online discussion on the Washington Post today, following the close of the FOSE show.

    Blog posts | March 10, 2006 3:41pm PST

  • Who needs metadata anyway?

    Last fall, OMB and GSA put out an RFI on the question of metadata: Is search technology good enough to obsolete metadata? The results were mixed.

    Blog posts | January 11, 2006 5:25pm PST

  • Searching for a search that works

    Too many companies don't have a search strategy. Interwoven's Senior Product Manager explains how a metadata plan can help you keep information at your fingertips.

    News items | October 31, 2002 12:00am PST

Additional Results

  • Metadata virtualization and orchestration seen as critical new technology to improve enterprise data integration

    Metadata-driven data virtualization and improved orchestration can help provide the inclusion and scale to accomplish far better data management. Such access then leads to improved integration of...

    Blog posts | December 16, 2011 11:08am PST

  • Metadata in Flash Video

    Beet.tv has a post on the news that Adobe is going to be adding voice-to-text functionality inside of Flash video that will be added to the video as metadata. What basically happens is that any...

    Blog posts | August 14, 2008 11:36am PDT

  • Remove tell-tale metadata from Microsoft apps

    When you send a Word document to a client or a co-worker, you are also sending metadata - info about the document - as well. You can easily include embarrassing comments, hidden text or info...

    Blog posts | December 17, 2007 2:56pm PST

  • Analyst: Microsoft Oslo part of 'tectonic shift' to business design

    Look beyond Microsoft's development tools -- the future is in business design

    Blog posts | December 10, 2007 7:41pm PST

  • The next big thing: User-contributed metadata

    We know all about user-generated content, masses of users contributing to burgeoning Web corpus. It's a manifestation of Web 2.0, the participatory Net, which companies like Google (YouTube),...

    Blog posts | October 29, 2007 6:56am PDT

  • Top Technologies for 2008

    Gartner has just published its list of top 10 strategic technologies for 2008. I guess I'm a sucker for stuff like this having just spoken with a bunch of CIOs and reported on the results here....

    Blog posts | October 10, 2007 1:34pm PDT

  • Red Hat regains mischief-maker role with metadata vendor acquisition

    Red Hat also announced that it will be increasingly bundling products and services to make a platform-like acquisition mode for its wares, moving away from the ala carte approach. I've been...

    Blog posts | April 27, 2007 9:18am PDT

  • Metadata exposes government secrets

    Microsoft Word might be easy to use and feature-rich but goverment employees who use it for sensitive documents may well be publishing redacted, restricted or even classified information.

    Blog posts | April 13, 2006 2:07pm PDT

  • GCN's Temin on the metadata problem and switching to Web services model

    Government Computer News editor Tom Temin answered questions in an online discussion on the Washington Post today, following the close of the FOSE show.

    Blog posts | March 10, 2006 3:41pm PST

  • Who needs metadata anyway?

    Last fall, OMB and GSA put out an RFI on the question of metadata: Is search technology good enough to obsolete metadata? The results were mixed.

    Blog posts | January 11, 2006 5:25pm PST

  • Music metadata company sold

    Enterprise Partners Venture Capital buys provider of "metadata" describing songs and albums to online services.

    News items | May 19, 2005 4:00am PDT

  • Searching for a search that works

    Too many companies don't have a search strategy. Interwoven's Senior Product Manager explains how a metadata plan can help you keep information at your fingertips.

    News items | October 31, 2002 12:00am PST

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