Metadata is a type of documentation that describes data. It allows users to understand what the data is, how it was created, who created it, and how it may be used. It also facilitates search and retrieval of the data when it is deposited in a data repository. Metadata can be embedded directly into data files (for example, as XML headers) or stored separately as a readme file, codebook, or lab notebook. Specific disciplines, repositories, or data centers may guide or dictate the content and format of metadata using a formal standard. Metadata may also be required by your funding agency when preparing data for preservation or sharing.
Metadata standards are created to facilitate searching similar items by using similar terms and constructs to describe them. A metadata record consists of all the metadata elements describing an object. Metadata records are often expressed in XML or other machine-readable formats for easy integration with systems.
Your field of study may already have developed a metadata standard; if so, it is advisable to adhere to the practices of your discipline. Some examples of domain-specific metadata standards are:
The Digital Curation Centre provides a disciplinary metadata guide that lists metadata standards by discipline.
If your discipline doesn't have an established metadata standard, it is recommended that you use a general-purpose standard such as Dublin Core, which is basic, domain-agnostic, and widely used. Dublin Core is a simple set of 15 elements that was developed to describe all types of networked resources.
The following are the minimum metadata elements that are suggested for describing your data (source: University of Arizona Libraries, http://data.library.arizona.edu/data-management-tips/data-documentation-and-metadata).
| Title | Name of the project or collection of datasets |
| Creator | Names and institutions of the people who created the data |
| Date | Key dates associated with the data, such as dates covered by the data or date of creation |
| Description | Description of the resource |
| Keywords or Subjects | Keywords or subjects describing the content of the data |
| Identifier | Unique number or alphanumeric string used to identify the data |
| Coverage (if applicable) | Geographic coverage |
| Language | Language of the resource |
| Publisher | entity responsible for making the dataset available |
| Funding Agencies | Organization or agency who funded the research |
| Access restrictions | Where and how your data can be accessed by other researchers |
| Rights | Any known intellectual property rights held for the data |
| Format | What format your data is in |
The following links provide additional information that can help you in creating metadata for your project:
*All graphics on this page were created by Jørgen Stamp and published under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Denmark License (www.digitalbevaring.dk).