What is metadata?

[nurmohammadkhan]

To explain what metadata is , we want to refer to one of the most used and probably most effective definitions: metadata is data that describes other data.

This means that metadata provide data and information: if we talk about electronic documents, metadata provide information about these documents, help to describe and contextualize them, clarifying their function and also, if necessary, their relationships with other documents.

Very often, metadata can be derived from the content of the document itself, other switzerland whatsapp resource times they derive from the context of production and use of that document and can be associated with the document at a later time; still other times, they are used to provide indications on the treatment to be reserved for that document. Metadata have different functions and are therefore generally divided into categories such as, for example:

descriptive metadata;
structural metadata;
administrative and management metadata.
Some metadata are easy to find and are already present in the document; furthermore, many can be found in any electronic document , while others are specific to certain types of documents.

Information (metadata) that we find in each document are, for example, the date on the document, or the indication of the subject that produced it, be it a natural person, a company or an institution. Even the object of the document, that is, a brief description of its content, is a transversal metadata, which is used in the description of each type of document.

Instead, if we talk about invoices or other fiscal documents , a fundamental metadata is represented, in many cases, by the VAT number.

Conversely, if we have a health document in our hands, such as a medical report, it could be useful to include among the metadata, the reference of the facility where the diagnostic test was performed, to be able to more easily retrieve the document according to this search criterion.

In short, any information contained in or associated with the document can become metadata, as long as it is able to play a role in the life cycle of this document: in its formation, in its management and conservation, in its retrieval and subsequent use.