What is Metadata and Why is it Important (DAM 101)

It’s information created about information. It’s used to help organize and manage that content. A common example of metadata is the produce lookup codes on fruit and vegetables at the grocery store. You might know what broccoli looks like, but a cashier will need to enter the proper code when you’re checking out at the supermarket. When you have a lot of things to track, information can be hard to find. A common metadata approach makes your information easier to find for customers, employees, store managers, and all of the people who contribute to the company.

 

What is the difference between metadata and taxonomy?

Metadata describes your information. Taxonomy is what you use to organize your information. (i.e., “Let’s group all the clothing together.”) Metadata is raw information and taxonomy is the strategy to organize the information.

 

What is the difference between taxonomy and tags?

Taxonomy is the structure of your information. Tags in the asset management system are one of the tactics you can use to label pieces of content and make them findable. If you have a selection of products, you can use a tag to identify what’s the same color, or function.

 

Who should be responsible for managing your metadata and taxonomy?

That depends on the organization. Usually, there is someone responsible for information architecture who determines the categories and groups of the taxonomy, as well as what they are labeled. This is typically an information strategist or a specialist in user experience (a kind of digital librarian). There are also content authors, who apply the label of the taxonomy to each piece of their content. In a best-practices scenario, the person who knows the information is the one who adds that metadata to the piece of content in order to reduce the amount of time between tagging and moving the metadata information into the Asset Management system.

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When is the best time to apply metadata? 

Some fields will be captured in the asset management system, such as the file type or file size. Others, such as a tag that helps market a product (think: “products for Canada” or “things that are blue”), are determined during the content planning process and will need to be maintained by content authors. In some systems, A.I. triggers can help tag some of these requirements but A.I. tags are very general.

 

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The Three Main Types of Metadata: Descriptive, Structural & Administrative

 

Descriptive: This helps us standardize how we talk about content. 

• Answers the question: What is it about?

• Saves descriptive information in a consistent way

• Captures standard data about each asset

• Often used to help manage content and govern work (updating, reviewing, etc.) (“What did we post to the site last March?”)

• Many of these tags can be handled through automated configurations

• Think: Title, Author, Publisher, Date, File Size, Filetype, Colorspace, Creation Date...

 

Structural: Helps associate things with other like things. Also referred to as affinity.

• Often useful for site tagging and searching 

• Helps create filters and relevant content

• Support searching and retrieval

• Should be protected by managers and not open-ended

• Can reinforce directory structures or create alternative directories

• These requirements can be handled in the taxonomy configuration mostly through tags.

• ​Think: Use, Division, Nameplate, Family, Type, Model, Color...

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Administrative: This information helps manage a resource, such as how it was created, workflow, access rights, legal, and usage information.

• Project Information

• Production information

• Expiration of the Content (Run lengths)

• How are the images created and who is responsible

• What are the restrictions on usage

• ​Think: Expiration Date, Rights, Talent, Buying Comments, Features, Project Name...