metadata
Information about information
Metadata is data about data—information that describes, categorizes, or manages other information.
A digital photo's metadata includes the date taken, camera settings, and location.
A book's metadata covers author, title, publisher, and ISBN.
Email headers, file properties, and database tags are all metadata.
The term appears frequently in discussions of digital privacy, since metadata can reveal patterns even when content remains hidden: They didn't read your messages, but the metadata showed who you called and when.
Science of categorical arrangement
- ontologyStudy of existence's nature
- schemaOrganized representational structure
- classificationSystematic grouping by traits
- indexingSystematic organization for retrieval
keywords · tags · attributes · fields · thesaurus · categorization · hierarchy · facets
Ease of being found
- findabilityEase of being located
- SEOImproving site discoverability
- harvestingGathering mature crops
- aggregationCombined collection of items
interoperability · crawling · indexing · retrieval · filtering · browse · access points · discoverability
Record of ownership
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
- recordsStored data or albums
- accessionAttainment of high office
- retentionContinued holding or possession
curation · repositories · collections · digitization · conservation · cultural heritage · access control · authenticity
Prescribed conduct rules
- APISoftware communication standard
- XMLStructured data markup language
- JSONLightweight data interchange format
- headerTop line of document
payload · packet · routing · DNS · encoding · specification · parsing · validation
Photo file information standard
- timestampsRecorded times of events
- geolocationDigital position identification
- resolutionFormal decision or determination
- bitrateData transfer speed
codec · compression · file format · thumbnails · author · creation date · copyright · licensing
taxonomy
Science of categorical arrangement
- ontologyStudy of existence's nature
- schemaOrganized representational structure
- classificationSystematic grouping by traits
indexing · keywords · tags · attributes · fields · thesaurus · categorization · hierarchy · facets · crosswalks
searchability
Ease of being found
- findabilityEase of being located
- SEOImproving site discoverability
- harvestingGathering mature crops
aggregation · interoperability · crawling · indexing · retrieval · filtering · browse · access points · discoverability · exposure
provenance
Record of ownership
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
- recordsStored data or albums
- accessionAttainment of high office
retention · curation · repositories · collections · digitization · conservation · cultural heritage · access control · authenticity · chain of custody
protocol
Prescribed conduct rules
- APISoftware communication standard
- XMLStructured data markup language
- JSONLightweight data interchange format
header · payload · packet · routing · DNS · encoding · specification · parsing · validation · transformation
EXIF
Photo file information standard
- timestampsRecorded times of events
- geolocationDigital position identification
- resolutionFormal decision or determination
bitrate · codec · compression · file format · thumbnails · author · creation date · copyright · licensing · versioning
- internet termsinternet, email, URL, router, download
- publishingpublishers, editors, editor, publishing house, books
- File Organizationfolders, tags, cloud storage, archives, backups
- Technical termsalgorithm, bandwidth, calibration, coefficient, combustion
- Document Trackingversion control, audit trail, check-in, check-out, timestamps
- donnéestableaux, bases, brutes, entrees, sorties