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Metadata ○｜Definition｜1st｜20251119205401-00-⌔
Metadata
Metadata (or metainformation) is data (or information) that defines and describes the characteristics of other data.1 It often helps to describe, explain, locate, or otherwise make data easier to retrieve, use, or manage. For example, the title, author, and publication date of a book are metadata about the book. But, while a data asset is finite, its metadata is infinite.
As such, efforts to define, classify types, or structure metadata are expressed as examples in the context of its use. The term “metadata” has a history dating to the 1960s where it occurred in computer science and in popular culture. Different types of metadata serve different functions. For example, descriptive metadata for a document might include the author, creation date, file size and keywords.
Metadata has various purposes. It can help users find relevant information and discover resources. It can also help organize electronic resources, provide digital identification, and archive and preserve resources. Metadata allows users to access resources by “allowing resources to be found by relevant criteria, identifying resources, bringing similar resources together, distinguishing dissimilar resources, and giving location information”.2 Metadata of telecommunication activities including Internet traffic is very widely collected by various national governmental organizations. This data is used for the purposes of traffic analysis and can be used for mass surveillance.3
Unique metadata standards exist for different disciplines (e.g., museum collections, digital audio files, websites, etc.). Describing the contents and context of data or data files increases its usefulness. For example, a web page may include metadata specifying what software language the page is written in (e.g., HTML), what tools were used to create it, what subjects the page is about, and where to find more information about the subject. This metadata can automatically improve the reader’s experience and make it easier for users to find the web page online.4 A CD may include metadata providing information about the musicians, singers, and songwriters whose work appears on the disc.
In many countries, government organizations routinely store metadata about emails, telephone calls, web pages, video traffic, IP connections, and cell phone locations.5
Printed 2026-06-28.
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Link to original Footnotes
International, DAMA (11 March 2011). The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management, 2nd Edition: Over 2,000 Terms Defined for IT and Business Professionals (2nd ed.). Technics Publications, LLC. ISBN 978-1-935504-12-2. ↩
National Information Standards Organization; Rebecca Guenther; Jaqueline Radebaugh (2004). Understanding Metadata (PDF). Bethesda, MD: NISO Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-880124-62-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2022. ↩
“Metadata = Surveillance”. Archived from the original on 21 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016. ↩
“Best Practices for Structural Metadata”. University of Illinois. 15 December 2010. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016. ↩
Rubinstein, I. S.; Nojeim, G. T.; Lee, R. D. (1 May 2014). “Systematic government access to personal data: a comparative analysis”. International Database of Privacy Law. 4 (2): 96–119. doi:10.1093/idpl/ipu004. ISSN 2044-3994. ↩
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