Metadata management is not a new concept. However, it is gaining new adherents as we recognize the value of enterprise data governance. We may have hampered in the past the success of metadata projects because of misguided attention on how to deploy metadata tools and the population of the repository.
Metadata is data about informational aspects of other data. Metadata allows for the easy retrieval, management, and use of data. We can collect it for any type of data and it can relate to any informational aspect of data, such as its origin, location, format, or quality.
Read the 13-page whitepaper “Make the Most of Your Metadata” by David Loshin to learn more about considerations for collaborating on metadata within and across an organization. First, the whitepaper considers how the organic and distributed evolution of the enterprise application ecosystem has allowed inconsistencies to be introduced that create challenges, as we repurpose the data sets from those applications for reporting and analytics. Next, we raise the question of the value of metadata management, suggesting that a strategy for metadata management and use must direct the activities for metadata discovery and capture.