Metadata

- Overview

Metadata means "data about data". Metadata is defined as the data providing information about one or more aspects of the data; it is used to summarize basic information about data that can make tracking and working with specific data easier. 

Metadata can be applied to many types of unstructured data, including images, videos, web pages, spreadsheets, documents, and logs. For example, when users publish links on Facebook, the platform extracts metadata like the post's title, description, featured image, URL, and website name. Users can then use this metadata to optimize and determine how their posts are displayed. 

Metadata is data that describes other data, such as a file, book, or piece of art, without revealing its content. It can include details like title, author, subject, and keywords to help identify the data and make it easier to find and use. Metadata can also help explain the data's origin, nature, and lineage. For example, if someone has never seen a particular dataset before, they can review the metadata to understand what it covers and how it was created.

Please refer to the following for more information:

• Wikipedia: Metadata

- Types of Metadata

There are different types of metadata, including descriptive and structural metadata:

• Descriptive metadata: Provides information about the content and context of the data, such as title, creator, subject keywords, and description.
• Structural metadata: Describes the physical structure of compound data, such as camera used, aperture, exposure, file format, and relation to other data or files.

Metadata can be applied to many types of unstructured data, including images, videos, web pages, spreadsheets, documents, and logs. 

For example, when users publish links on Facebook, the platform extracts metadata like the post's title, description, featured image, URL, and website name. Users can then use this metadata to optimize and determine how their posts are displayed.  

- Examples

The prefix “meta” typically means “an underlying definition or description” in technology circles. In the 21st century, metadata typically refers to digital forms, but traditional card catalogs contain metadata, with cards holding information about books in a library (author, title, subject, etc.).

Metadata makes finding and working with data easier – allowing the user to sort or locate specific documents. Some examples of basic metadata are author, date created, date modified, and file size. Metadata is also used for unstructured data such as images, video, web pages, spreadsheets, etc. 

Web pages often include metadata in the form of meta tags. Description and keywords meta tags are commonly used to describe content within a web page. Search engines can use this data to help understand the content within a page. 

- Manual and Automated Metadata Creation

Metadata can be created manually or through automation. Accuracy is increased using manual creation as it allows the user to input relevant information. Automated metadata creation can be more elementary, usually only displaying basic information such as file size, file extension, when the file was created, for example. 

Metadata can be stored and managed in a database, however, without context, it may be impossible to identify metadata just by looking at it. Metadata is useful in managing unstructured data since it provides a common framework to identify and classify a variety of data including videos, audios, genomics data, seismic data, user data, documents, logs.