How does it feel like, when you visit any new place and it looks completely organized, free from disorderliness? Well, everyone loves the place which is well-maintained, sorted and is chaos-free.
The similar thing applies to our workplaces too where we need each and every bit of file and information synchronized, stored and made available easily when we want it. For this, micro-management is very important, which has given birth to the concept of Metadata Framework.
Defining A Metadata Framework
Metadata is a crucial need for undertaking the Digital Asset Management process successfully nowadays. In simple words, we can define a Metadata framework as governing, storing and managing the whole data of any kind of organization, workplace or other setting symbolizing it with numbers, names, signs, categories. It is a kind of structured framework followed to classify, sort, utilize chunks of information of an organization efficiently.
In the digital environments, Metadata framework holds great importance as large amounts of data is needed to be stored, categorized, labeled for a longer period of time. The accurate metadata techniques help provide right context and meaning to any sort of data, tagging with numerous specifications, so that management can navigate it easily and locate when the file or information is needed.
In this blog, we will delve into different types of Metadata Framework, and why a business needs to employ this technique into the working. So, let’s take a look into it!
Different Types Of Metadata Framework
There are different types of Metadata frameworks any organization will need. Here are some to ponder on:
Document Metadata
The primary work of any business or undertaking is noted and stored on documents. For this, there are different sorts of metadata frameworks used such as information tags, notes on a document, security tags for restricted access, metadata created on the version of the document to signify changes to be made.
All these things are done for sudden retrieval of information for a particular document such as to know the size, title, author of the document.
Metadata In HTML
Metadata in HTML means that an HTML code is put into the website to add essential information to the website. Meta tags are used for this very purpose that are placed inside the header of the document. These meta tags reflect information about the title, author, and objective of the website.
Geospatial Metadata
It is about fetching know-how about the geographic files such as the maps, data sets and so on. This framework will also explain about the key things like who, when, where, what, why and how of different geographic information files. Such as knowing about the source, accuracy, resolution, format of geo files.
Social Metadata
Social Metadata means every bit of data which is added by others rather than the content creator for a social piece of information. It can be Facebook meta tags created on Open Graph consisting of information like the title of the post, featured image, a little explanation of the content and so on.
For Twitter, it can be like meta tags on Twitter Cards, comprising information like title, gist of the post, image thumbnail. These tags are put in the HTML code.
Metadata In an Email
Anything that is related to e-mails or its minute bits of details are metadata. The message headers, date and time of the e-mail, addresses of the sender, the receiver, their names, title, subject of the mail. This can also include the purpose of the mail for which it was written.
In addition, metadata also takes into account the type of content, file size, download URL, the list of documents attached to the mail and a lot more other aspects.
Descriptive Metadata
Descriptive Metadata means describing the data in some form so that it can be easily discoverable in future. Such as giving titles, keywords, descriptions to files and different datasets of the organization. Meta data tags are also allotted to the content like “author”, “creation date”, “subject”.
Structural Metadata
Structural metadata helps in harmonizing different structures or pieces of data into one understandable form. This can include the table of contents, different pages, sections, table relationships in any database and also chapter numbering too. In simple words, it means sorting the whole data into groups or categories formulating structures. It can also consist of sorting files as per different file formats and versioning information.
Administrative Metadata
The Metadata related to the administration or the whole business set-up is said to be the Administrative Metadata. It usually consists of information relating to the security, governance and access controls of the firm. In addition it can also include the categorizing of staff, human resources, the work assets, license agreements, rights management in various assortments.
Business Metadata
It is related to the business context data such as organizational goals, the processes for attracting more customers or any sort of data related to it. For this, a lot of things are analyzed such as the (Key Performance Indicators) KPIs which are like the monthly sales data.
The elements of the Business Metadata framework would be in this case, Data owner, business units, purpose, retention policy, customer data table, product master table. Tags which can be given to this meta-data type will be revenue, sales analysis, KPI reporting.
Benefits Of Metadata Framework
While the main functionality of Metadata framework is data discoverability which can be hard to locate. There are also other very important advantages of the Metadata building for any business organization.
Let’s take a close look to it’s intriguing benefits:
1. Better Decision-Making
For any undertaking, taking the right decisions is vital. So, a well-sorted data can help the management to make informed, faster and confident business decisions that can help the organization to uplift their profit earning ratio.
For example, A sales data which is tagged with KPI as “Quarterly revenue” or the “Customer retention Rate” will aid the performance analyzers to understand the performance trends and take strategic decisions instantly.
2. Reduced Data Silos
Business managers often create isolated data out of mismanagement or carelessness. If the Metadata framework is rightly followed, then there will be no incidence of data silos, ensuring that everyone gets the data at the time when it is needed and they only make use of the right data source.
3. Facilitates Collaboration When Needed
There are numerous projects going on in the company. So, when any team is initiating any work and needs urgent factual data to keep going with the work, metadata if sorted carefully will definitely help. A well-maintained metadata will work as the common language between the team mates, making it easier for the teams to understand and use it where it is needed.
4. Makes Website Searches Easy
Meta titles, Meta descriptions are often formulated for different websites to lift up the web platform’s ranking in the Google Listing. The Meta title describes the page’s objective, its products and services that help capture customers' attention.
Meta Descriptions provide more details about the company or its services, such as what type of products and services are provided. So, simply using meta titles or meta descriptions, search engines can understand the specific keywords and will categorize that website in front of you.
5. Helps Businesses Innovate
Organizing data is of crucial importance and when it comes to managing the database for any business, it can work wonders. The right metadata curation can allow the businesses to experiment and innovate effectively. Teams can easily find and combine different data sets for starting off or accelerating new projects of the business.
6. Maintains Data Security
While sorting data, access controls are given so that no one can get unauthorized access to the information. This kind of control helps establish data security and management. This ensures that the sensitive data is protected from the scams and forges.
In Conclusion
In the end, we can say that Metadata management is now becoming the core need for every business organization. It not only helps in managing and safeguarding the company’s data but also opens up the gate of new opportunities for the organization to grow, innovate and achieve success. As classified and perfectly categorized data ensures consistent updates to all systems. By adapting it correctly, there would be lesser possibilities of inefficient operations, data silos and poor decision making.
At LN Webworks, we understand the importance of metadata management in staying competitive in this challenging data-driven world. Proper metadata metrics are essential and must be employed in every business organization to achieve sustainable growth and success
