test.docx

Metadata is simply **data about data**. It means it is a description and context of the data. It helps to organize, find and understand data. Here are a few real world examples of metadata: Typical metadata ---------------- Those are some typical metadata elements: 1. Title and description, 2....

Metadata is simply **data about data**. It means it is a description and context of the data. It helps to organize, find and understand data. Here are a few real world examples of metadata: Typical metadata ---------------- Those are some typical metadata elements: 1. Title and description, 2. Tags and categories, 3. Who created and when, 4. Who last modified and when, 5. Who can access or update. A photo ------- Every time you take a photo with today\'s cameras a bunch of metadata is gathered and saved with it: - date and time, - filename, - camera settings, - geolocation. A book ------ Each book has a number of standard metadata on the covers and inside. This includes: - a title, - author name, - publisher and copyright details, - description on a back, - table of contents, - index, - page numbers. A blog post ----------- Every blog post has standard metadata fields that are usually at before first paragraph. This includes: - title, - author, - published time, - category, - tags. Email ----- Every email you send or receive has a number of metadata fields, many of which are hidden in the message header and not visible to you in your mail client. This metadata includes: - subject, - from, - to, - date and time sent, - sending and receiving server names and IPs, - format (plain text of HTLM), - anti-spam software details. Word document ------------- Every word processing software collects some standard metadata and enables you to add your own fields for each document. Typical fields are: - title, - subject, - author, - company, - status, - creation date and time, - last modification date and time, - number of pages. A spreadsheet ------------- Spreadsheets contain a few metadata fields: - tab names, - table names, - column names, - user comments. Relational database ------------------- Relational databases (most common type of database) store and provide access not only data but also metadata in a structure called [data dictionary or system catalog](https://dataedo.com/kb/databases/all/data-dictionary). It holds information about: - tables, - columns, - data types, - constraints - table relationships, - and many more Computer files -------------- All the fields you see by each file in file explorer is actually metadata. The actual data is inside those files. Metadata includes: - file name, - type, - size, - creation date and time, - last modification date and time. Web page -------- Every web page has a number of metadata fields: - page title, - page description, - icon. Paper files ----------- Paper document files have often administrative metadata that help manage documents. This might include: - letter for files organized alphabetically, - access control information (\"classified\" for instance), - logos. Summary ------- Those were my examples. I hope by now you have pretty good understanding of what **metadata** is. If you are looking for a solution that will help you manage your metadata, check out Dataedo - [metadata management software](https://dataedo.com/solutions/metadata-management).