A metadata standard is a requirement which is intended to establish a common understanding of the meaning or

semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...

of the

data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpret ...

, to ensure correct and proper use and interpretation of the data by its owners and users. To achieve this common understanding, a number of characteristics, or attributes of the data have to be defined, also known as

metadata Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...

Metadata

Metadata is often defined as ''data about data''. It is “structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use or manage an information resource”, especially in a distributed network environment like for example the internet or an organization.De Carvalho Moura, A.M., Machado Campos, M.L., Barreto, C.M. (1998), A survey on metadata for describing and retrieving Internet resources, World Wide Web, 1, (4), 221-240, Kluwer Academic Publishers A good example of metadata is the

cataloging In library and information science, cataloging ( US) or cataloguing ( UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging provides information such as auth ...

system found in

libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

, which records for example the author, title, subject, and location on the shelf of a resource. Another is software system knowledge extraction of software objects such as data flows, control flows, call maps, architectures, business rules, business terms, and database schemas.

Metadata Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...

is usually categorized in three types:Lambe, P. (2007), Organising Knowledge: Taxonomies, Knowledge and Organisational effectiveness, Chandos Publishing, Oxford *Descriptive metadata describes an information resource for identification and retrieval through elements such as title, author, and abstract. *Structural metadata documents relationships within and among objects through elements such as links to other components (e.g., how pages are put together to form chapters). *Administrative metadata helps to manage information resources through elements such as version number, archiving date, and other technical information for purposes of file management, rights management and preservation.

Available metadata standards

Metadata elements grouped into sets designed for a specific purpose, e.g., for a specific domain or a particular type of information resource, are called metadata schemas. For every element the name and the semantics (the meaning of the element) are specified. Content rules (how content must be formulated), representation rules (e.g., capitalization rules), and allowed element values (e.g., from a controlled vocabulary) can be specified optionally. Some schemas also specify in which syntax the elements must be encoded, in contrast to syntax independent schemas. Many current schemas use

Standard Generalized Markup Language The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML; ISO 8879:1986) is a standard for defining generalized markup languages for documents. ISO 8879 Annex A.1 states that generalized markup is "based on two postulates": * Declarative: Markup should ...

(SGML) or

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. T ...

to specify their syntax. Metadata schemas that are developed and maintained by standard organizations (such as ISO) or organizations that have taken on such responsibility (such as the

Dublin Core 220px, Logo image of DCMI, which formulates Dublin Core The Dublin Core, also known as the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES), is a set of fifteen "core" elements (properties) for describing resources. This fifteen-element Dublin Core has ...

Metadata Initiative) are called metadata standards. Many different metadata schemas are being developed as standards across disciplines, such as library science, education, archiving, e-commerce, and arts. In the table below, an overview of available metadata standards is given. Sources:

References

{{reflist Records management

Metadata

Available metadata standards

See also

References