What is metadata?
Literally, it can be defined as ‘data about data’. In practical terms, the types of metadata that can be associated with an electronic record may include: details of the record’s creation, author, creation date, ownership, searchable keywords that can be used to classify the document, details of the type of data found in the document, and the relationships between different data components. Metadata must be stored as an integral part of the electronic document it describes.
Metadata is broadly defined as “data about data.” For example, a library’s card catalog is metadata — data about the books, prints, photographs, and films that make up the library’s collections. On Profiles in Science, you will find a metadata record about each document — letter, article, photograph, interview, etc. — in the digital collection. Each metadata record that we create contains information such as the document’s title, creator, date of creation, copyright statement, location within the collection, and page length. The metadata is particularly useful because it provides information that may not be apparent on the digitized document itself. You can search the information contained in the metadata by checking the box in front of the word “Metadata” on our search engine page.
