Hello. I'm an intern and my boss wants be to do some research on meta data. What exactly is it and how do you implement it? The info I've found off the web (whatis.com, dmreview.com etc) makes it sound like a data dictionary, but one in which the company would have to hire an outside vendor to implement/build. I'm getting confused. Hopefully you guys can help because she wants an answer real soon.
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Meta data - what is it and how do I use it
- Thread starter bubbaraz
- Start date
Metadata is data about data and can take so many forms that your head will spin. Just to name a few,
database - descriptions of tables, table columns, column data types (Char, Integer, etc.) and size, indexes, keys, etc.
Entity Relationship Models (ERM) - diagrams that show how tables (or logical entities) are related to each other. For example, a "customer" may be related to many "orders" and while an "order" MUST belong to a "customer", a "customer" is not required to have an order.
Security models - who has the rights to look / modify what data.
The list could go on forever. Any information that describes the "real" data of your business is metadata. However, most of the time, when people first start talking about metadata, they usually mean database descriptive information.
And the reason it seems like you have to hire and outside vendor to implement/build it is that most companies buy tools and applications from outside vendors. These tools and applications always have their own metadata. Sometimes it's just a database schema they use in their package. Other times they have a very extensive list of "special" data objects that require them to construct their own specialized metadata descriptions.
Hopefully this gives you some insite. Just remember that anything that reads, owns, or manipulates data needs to be able to describe that data, either to the user / developer or to their own tools.
Good luck,
Matt
database - descriptions of tables, table columns, column data types (Char, Integer, etc.) and size, indexes, keys, etc.
Entity Relationship Models (ERM) - diagrams that show how tables (or logical entities) are related to each other. For example, a "customer" may be related to many "orders" and while an "order" MUST belong to a "customer", a "customer" is not required to have an order.
Security models - who has the rights to look / modify what data.
The list could go on forever. Any information that describes the "real" data of your business is metadata. However, most of the time, when people first start talking about metadata, they usually mean database descriptive information.
And the reason it seems like you have to hire and outside vendor to implement/build it is that most companies buy tools and applications from outside vendors. These tools and applications always have their own metadata. Sometimes it's just a database schema they use in their package. Other times they have a very extensive list of "special" data objects that require them to construct their own specialized metadata descriptions.
Hopefully this gives you some insite. Just remember that anything that reads, owns, or manipulates data needs to be able to describe that data, either to the user / developer or to their own tools.
Good luck,
Matt
Hello bubbaraz,
The description Matt gave about metadata does seem to give a good idea about the subject. I have nothing to add to it. It seems to me though like I am witnessing a DILBERT scenario (the cartoon, that is). I get the feeling you're boss has no clue at all about the subject at hand , but picked it up from a managers periodical. You cannot research metadata in a general sense , only give a general description. Anything more than Matt has given you will get to a filosophy-level quite fast. Meta-data is not something that is implemented, applications and databases are implemented thus causing metadata to come into existence. Don't waste to much time because of your boss's ignorance! T. Blom
Information analist
Shimano Europe
tbl@shimano-eu.com
The description Matt gave about metadata does seem to give a good idea about the subject. I have nothing to add to it. It seems to me though like I am witnessing a DILBERT scenario (the cartoon, that is). I get the feeling you're boss has no clue at all about the subject at hand , but picked it up from a managers periodical. You cannot research metadata in a general sense , only give a general description. Anything more than Matt has given you will get to a filosophy-level quite fast. Meta-data is not something that is implemented, applications and databases are implemented thus causing metadata to come into existence. Don't waste to much time because of your boss's ignorance! T. Blom
Information analist
Shimano Europe
tbl@shimano-eu.com
Guest_imported
New member
- Jan 1, 1970
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I agree with Matt and Blom for their explanation. Meta data is the data in the right context and once combine with data should result in information. Said in a different way:
Data + meta data = information
In most cases, not always, meta data is available in some way of form in a company (training manuals, application design docs, data dictionary and copy books etc). Once you define what is meta data, it becomes a bigger challenge to find and present this meta data to developers and business users. May be your boss is interested to know what are the options to present or share this meta data.
Hope this helps…Piru
Data + meta data = information
In most cases, not always, meta data is available in some way of form in a company (training manuals, application design docs, data dictionary and copy books etc). Once you define what is meta data, it becomes a bigger challenge to find and present this meta data to developers and business users. May be your boss is interested to know what are the options to present or share this meta data.
Hope this helps…Piru
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