Metadata

Metadata is data (information) used to define or describe other data, regardless of its medium (e.g. paper, electronic). Metadata helps to locate, understand and interpret data. They are essential for managing data, particularly when it comes to drawing up the Data Management Plan (DMP) and sharing data.

Metadata is used to describe characteristics such as:

• Who created the data and when?
• How and why were they generated?

Metadata makes preserving digital data easier, while distribution tools (software and formats) are evolving. Therefore, both the data and its description must be consistent over time, and must be based on norms and standards.

Metadata standards

The standard aims to provide a set of characteristics for describing scientific productions.

The standard is chosen according to the intended use of the data (e.g. repository, publication, archiving). It can also be specialised by discipline or type of data for example.

Examples:

• Dublin Core (general purpose), describing resources of any type.
• Darwin Core (DwC), biological diversity.
• Ecological Metadata Language (EML), environmental science.
• Data Documentation Initiative (DDI), social, demographic, economic, and health sciences.

Exchange formats

The format provides a digital representation of the standard, along with the associated metadata. It is possible to speak of convention or encoding. This allows metadata representation and processing software to be used, as well as exchange protocols.

Two common formats are XML and CSV.