Metadata has become a common term, thanks to the National Security Agency (NSA) scandals. But in the end, metadata is described as “basic information about data.” This means it often accompanies other data in an interpretative role.
The NSA has been claiming that it has been collecting only the metadata of emails, phone calls, and other communications, and not the actual content. However, delving deeper into the matter, it is clear to see that a large collection of metadata can indeed be just as revealing as (if not more revealing than) holding the contents of these communications would be. Sys-Con Media brought this information to our attention in their article, “What metadata can reveal about you.”
Clear, consistent data is important for indexing and retrieving data in any field of business. As we move into more business data integration, remember that standards are what drives consistency. Access Innovations is one of a very small number of companies able to help its clients generate ANSI/ISO/W3C-compliant taxonomies.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.
