1 What is Metadata?

What is Metadata and Why is it important?

Metadata, taken literally, means “data about data.” In libraries and archives, metadata is created to record information about a resource–for instance, the year a book was published or a photograph was taken. Metadata provides us with information about a resource, or can help us find resources easier, aiding with finding photographs from a particular event, place, or time, or works by a particular artist. In short, metadata helps users understand an item, and also helps them to find other resources in an archive or library. Therefore, using a standardized system of recording metadata is key to ensuring resources can be found and understood.

Think of the information on a good old fashioned card catalog card.

The card contains data that help users locate, use, and make sense of the book. This is all metadata.

Then why do we say “metadata” instead of “cataloging”? Because, roughly, cataloging refers to the specific practice, aligned with Anglo-American Cataloging Rules and Resource Description and Access, of describing a book, periodical, or document for inclusion in a library catalog using a particular kind of format called a MARC record. But in the 1990s, librarians figured out that MARC records and cataloging weren’t really cutting it for the digital documents, objects, and artifacts that were proliferating on the internet. So (again, roughly) we say “cataloging” when we’re organizing a book in a MARC record, but we say “metadata” when we’re organizing or describing something else, typically a digital document.

In the next section, we will go over the Dublin Core, a standardized set of metadata categories that can be used for organizing physical collections or digital content.

Types of Metadata

Descriptive Metadata provides qualitative information about a resource and can provide information on the content and creation of an item. It gives information on

• Examples: title, author, description, subject

Structural Metadata provides information about how an item is organized or constructed

• Examples: Dimensions, materials, medium, file type

Administrative Metadata provides information on how the metadata was created, who has rights to the item (or whether it is in the public domain)

• Examples: Legal rights, holding library or institution

Examples of Metadata in Our Everyday Lives

• Nutrition Facts and Ingredients List on food items (put image into text here)
  • Ingredients lists can be important to know for “users” with allergies and helps them know whether or not they can eat it
• Information about files stored on your computer, such as word documents, photos, or spreadsheets
  • When it was created, when it was last worked on, the location it’s stored on your computer, file size, immediate program for viewing or editing the file
• Credits at the end of the movie
  • Production company, set designers, costume designers, casting directors, who played what roles, who chose and made the music in the film, camera men, editors, special effects coordinators, stunt doubles, licensing and copyright information