Introduction to Metadata

Metadata provides for us: 

Data discovery

Metadata provides descriptions that facilitate the discovery of relevant resources and can be filtered by criteria. When searching Amazon for a product, you use metadata to filter by price, department, product name, color, and size. Villanova University states that using metadata to describe resources enables humans and machines to better understand those resources. (Source)

Context

The data science company, Atlan, explains that context is derived from the explanations metadata provides that covers its themes, keywords and how it was collected, aiding in the challenging process of interpreting complex and extensive datasets. (Source: Atlan) It brings resources together for comparison and allows for the display of relationships between information sources for further analysis. 

Image Source: Metadata 101: Definition, Types & Examples | Splunk

Search Engines

Metadata can help search engines understand the context of web pages, which can help them rank in relevant search results.

Citations

1. Atlan. (2023, July 31). Why is Metadata Important for Effective Data Management? atlan.com/why-is-metadata-important/

2. Emilybland. (2015, February 6). What is Metadata and Why it’s important | Villanova University. Villanova University.          https://www.villanovau.com/articles/bi/metadata-importance-in-data-driven-world/

3. Metadata 101: Definition, Types & Examples | Splunk. (2023, June 22). Splunk. https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/learn/metadata-types.html