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Metadata: Data about your Data

Metadata Overview

What is Metadata?

Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource. Metadata is often called data about data or information about information.

This definition comes from the National Institute Standards Organization (NISO) publication Understanding Metadata

Minimal metadata to keep with the data:

  • About the project:
    • Title, people, key dates, funders and grants
  • About the data:
    • Title, key dates, creator(s), subjects, rights included files, format(s), versions, checksums
    • Interpretive aids: codebooks, data dictionaries, algorithms, code

A Visualization of the Metadata Universe