Metadata

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metadata
/ˈmɛtədeɪtə/ (n.)

Information about information. For example, if news in a newsletter is the primary data, the newsletter’s size, its author, its recipients, its publication date, the date it is read — these are all metadata.

A rich, underused, resource. There is a long essay on the benefits of metadata over folders in our SharePoint essay.

Metadata is how databases work. There is an <<item>> and associated with it will be <<fields>>. Each field is a single point of metadata.

Excel is the greatest example of metadata: Each row in an excel field is an item and each column is a metadata point. You can add an unlimited number of columns: newly added columns do not affect or change existing ones, so we say they are non-destructive.

See also

• SharePoint
• Metadata taxonomy
• Information