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Meta Data / Metadata

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Meta Data / Metadata - definitions

Meta data - (or metadata). SeeInformation Resource data. A term used to mean data that describes or specifies other data. The term has not made its way into either Webster's Unabridged Dictionary or the Oxford Dictionary. The closest term is meta language, defined as "a language used to describe other languages." The term Information Resource data is preferred all the term meta data as a business term

[Category=Data Quality ]

Source: Larry English, http://www.iaidq.com/main/glossary.shtml External, 02-Feb-2009 10:33


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Metadata : Data which provides context or otherwise describes information in order to make it more valuable (e.g., more easily retrievable or maintainable); data about data. 

[Category=Data Quality ]

Source: Martin Eppler, http://www.iaidq.com/main/glossary.shtml External, 02-Feb-2009 10:33


Metadata - Data about data and the data's structure within a database. Technical metadata reflects the description of the structure, content, keys, and indexes of data and their source of origin, while business metadata reflects definitions about measures (facts) using calculations.

[Category=Database Management ]

Source: Northwest Database Services, 11 November 2009 08:13:31, http://www.nwdatabase.com/database-glossary-m.htm External


Metadata - gives data meaning.

Peter Benson, 16 November 2009 10:17:37, http://www.dataqualitypro.com/data-quality-home/transparency-it-is-about-the-data-the-quality-of-the-data.html External


Metadata - Data about data. The definition and scope of metadata depends upon context. In the context of Information Management, metadata is generally thought of as providing information (what database stores it? what data type is it? how long is the field? etc.) about a data element. Within the context of Data Governance_, the term also includes "business" metadata such as the names and roles of Data Stewards. Metadata repositories are employed to store and report on metadata.

[Category=Data Governance ]

Source: The Data Governance Institute, 16 December 2009 11:17:10, http://www.datagovernance.com/glossary-governance/ External


Metadata - Information that describes data.

[Category=Localization/Localisation ]

Source: Common Sense Advisory, 18 January 2010 10:04:59, http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com/Resources/Glossary/tabid/878/Default.aspx External


Metadata - Data that describes information about either online or offline data. Information that characterizes the who, what, where, and how related to data collection. Often, the information refers to special tagged fields in a document that provide information about the document to search engines and other computer applications. Web pages often include metadata in the form of meta tags. Description and keywords meta tags are commonly used to describe the Web page's content. Most search engines use this data when adding pages to their search Index_.

MedIEQ, 20 April 2010 11:35:22, http://www.medieq.org/glossary External


Metadata - Data about the data. They include names, definitions, logical and physical data structure, data integrity, data accuracy, and other data about the organization's data resource.

Source: Public Schools of North Carolina, 28 April 2010 08:57:46, http://www.ncpublicschools.org/data/management/glossary/ External


Metadata - Also Known As: Meta Data or Meta-data.

Data that describes the data in the warehouse.

Metadata includes the following: A description of tables and fields in the warehouse, including data types and the range of acceptable values.

A similar description of tables and fields in the source databases, with a mapping of fields from the source to the warehouse.

A description of how the data has been transformed, including formulae, formatting, currency conversion, and time aggregation.

Any other information that is needed to support and manage the operation of the data warehouse.

There are a number of companies and organizations attempting to standardize the use of metadata. A standard metadata model would greatly aid the process of integrating data warehousing tools from different companies. Some data warehousing experts believe that the standardization of metadata is impossible.

[Category=Data Warehousing ]

Source: SDG Computing Inc., 09 May 2010 10:17:08, SDG Computing, now offline


Metadata or Meta Data - Data about the data in a data warehouse. Metadata provides a directory to help to locate the contents of the data warehouse; it is a guide to mapping data as it is transformed from the operational environment to the data warehouse environment; and it serves as a guide to the algorithms used for summarization of current detailed data. Metadata is semantic information associated with a given variable. Metadata must include business definitions of the data and clear, accurate descriptions of data types, potential values, original source system, data formats, and other characteristics. Metadata defines and describes business data. Examples of metadata include data element descriptions, data type descriptions, attribute/property descriptions, range/domain descriptions, and process/method descriptions. The repository environment encompasses all corporate metadata resources: database catalogs, data dictionaries, and navigation services. Metadata includes things like the name, length, valid values, and description of a data element. Metadata is stored in a data dictionary and repository. It insulates the data warehouse from changes in the schema of operational systems.

[Category=Data Cleansing ]

Source: X4DB, 22 May 2010 10:55:57, http://www.x4db.com/glossary.html External


Metadata - Metadata is data that expresses the context or relativity of data. Examples of metadata include data element descriptions, data type descriptions, attribute/property descriptions, range/domain descriptions and process/method descriptions. The repository environment encompasses all corporate metadata resources: database catalogs, data dictionaries and navigation services. Metadata includes name, length, valid values and description of a data element. Metadata is stored in a data dictionary and repository. It insulates the data warehouse from changes in the schema of operational systems.

[Category=Information Management ]

Source: Information-Management.com, 27 June 2010 08:58:00, http://www.information-management.com/glossary/m.html External


Metadata -

(1) Traditionally, metadata were data about the data. In the common data architecture metadata are all data describing the foredata, including metapraedata and the meta-paradata. They are data that come after or behind the foredata and support the foredata.

(2) Metadata is data about data. Examples of metadata include data element descriptions, data type descriptions, attribute/property descriptions, range/domain descriptions, and process/method descriptions. The repository environment encompasses all corporate metadata resources: database catalogs, data dictionaries, and navigation services. Metadata includes things like the name, length, valid values, and description of a data element. Metadata is stored in a data dictionary and repository. It insulates the data warehouse from changes in the schema of operational systems.

[Category=Data Warehousing ]

Source: Sun.com, 30 July 2010 09:12:12, http://www.sun.com/third-party/dw/brochures/67198.Acrobat.pdf External


Meta data - Meta data is data that expresses the context or relativity of data. Examples of meta data include data element descriptions, data type descriptions, attribute/property descriptions, range/domain descriptions and process/method descriptions. The repository environment encompasses all corporate meta data resources: database catalogs, data dictionaries and navigation services. Meta data includes name, length, valid values and description of a data element. Meta data is stored in a data dictionary and repository. It insulates the data warehouse from changes in the schema of operational systems.

[Category=Data Management ]

Source: DataMentors, 23 August 2010 09:26:39, http://www.datamentors.com/News-and-Resources/Glossary.html External


Meta data - Also known as data about data is the information about the contents and uses of the data warehouse. Meta data is created by several components of the data warehouse and provides a business and technical view of the data warehouse solution.

[Category=Data Warehousing ]

Source: Aexis Business Intelligence, 19 December 2010 10:25:13, http://www.aexis.eu/DataWarehouse-Glossary/ External


metadata - Source: ISO 19115; KOGIS Switzerland; Co-ordination for GIS in the federal administration of Switzerland

"Data about data or a service. Metadata is the documentation of data. In human-readable form, it has primarily been used as information to enable the manager or user to understand, compare and interchange the content of the described data set. In the Web Services context, XML-encoded (machine-readable and human-readable) metadata stored in catalogs and registries enables services to use those catalogs and registries to find data and services.

[Category=Geospatial ]

Source: Open Geospatial Consortium, 23 June 2011 07:43:42, http://www.opengeospatial.org/ogc/glossary External


Metadata - Data about data - that is, data describing the structure, content or use of some other data.

[Category=Data Quality ]

Source: DAMA UK, 18 July 2011 11:18:43, http://www.damauk.org/glossary.php External


metadata - [data transfer] Information that describes the content, quality, condition, origin, and other characteristics of data or other pieces of information. Metadata for spatial data may describe and document its subject matter; how, when, where, and by whom the data was collected; availability and distribution information; its projection, scale, resolution, and accuracy; and its reliability with regard to some standard. Metadata consists of properties and documentation. Properties are derived from the data source (for example, the coordinate system and projection of the data), while documentation is entered by a person (for example, keywords used to describe the data).

[Category=Geospatial ]

Source: esri, 10 June 2012 09:10:23, http://support.esri.com/en/knowledgebase/GISDictionary/term/abbreviation External


Metadata - The sum of all documentation about the data warehousing process in its entirety. Metadata describes the contents of the data warehouse, its structure, and the processes involved in its setup. Metadata should be updated as the system evolves. Essentially, metadata is all the information in the data warehouse environment that is not the actual data itself.

[Category=Business Intelligence ]

Source: ElegantJ BI Business Intelligence, 01 November 2012 09:04:34, http://www.elegantjbi.com/resources/glossary_a.htm External


metadata - Documentation or information about a data set. It may be embedded in the data itself, or exist separately from the data. Metadata may describe the ownership, purpose, methods, organization, and conditions for use of data, technical information about the data, and other information. Many metadata standards exist across a broad range of disciplines and applications.

[Category=Data Management ]

Source: Cornell University, 01 July 2013 08:39:52, https://confluence.cornell.edu/display/rdmsgweb/glossary External


Metadata – data about data; gives information about what the data is about.

[Category=Big Data ]

Source: BigData-Startup, 01 October 2013 08:58:45, http://www.bigdata-startups.com/abc-big-data-glossary-terminology External


metadata - Any data used to describe other data–for example, a data file’s size or date of creation.

[Category=Big Data ]

Source: DataInformed, 04 November 2013 09:50:02, http://data-informed.com/glossary-of-big-data-terms/ External


Data Quality Glossary.  A free resource from GRC Data Intelligence. For comments, questions or feedback: dqglossary@grcdi.nl