Metadata
Data about data
Metadata can be simply understood as 'data about data' or 'information about information'. The 'use-by' information printed on foodstuffs is a form of metadata. The information found in the records in a library catalogue is also a form of metadata.
Describe and Identify Content
The purpose and value of metadata is that it provides the ability to thoroughly describe and identify content so that it can be selected, retrieved, brought together, used, reused and delivered to the appropriate person at the right time.
Metadata Standards
Metadata standards have been developed to support both machine interoperability (information exchange) and targeted resource discovery by users of the Web. Metadata standards for the Internet are an attempt to bridge the gap between the comprehensive cataloguing which is done by professionals in the library context, and the free-for-all of document creation on the Web.
In particular, these metadata standards allow creators of documents and managers of resource collections to describe resources in a detailed manner facilitating targeted queries by search engines. A metadata record typically consists of a set of elements (or fields), which describe in detail the content of the resource, its intellectual property rights, and the date of its creation.
Dublin Core, Australian Government Locator Service, edna Metadata Standard
The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES) is an internationally recognised standard. The edna Metadata Standard is based on Dublin Core and is consistent with AGLS (Australian Government Locator Service).