Metadata

Metadata is often referred to as 'data about data'. In a Digital Asset Management context it refers to descriptive information applied to assets to support a task or activity. The most common example is to help users to locate assets in searches. To help find suitable media, assets will generally have short descriptions or titles added to them as a basic minimum, although it is more common to add much more descriptive detail to help users to locate what they are looking for. As well as search metadata, workflow and business process information may also be added to determine what procedures are followed when users want to download assets. See Tagging and Keywording also.