Metadata:

Metadata Defined: Metadata is information stored in almost any type of file. Sometimes defined as data about data. It is the higher level of data.

It can include your name, your company or organization's name, the name of your computer, the name of the network server or drive where you saved the file, personalized comments and the names and times of previous document authors, revisions, or versions.

Metadata can conveniently be described as a Controlled Vocabulary in a a specific domain.

An example of Metadata for a Product  

• Product, Controlled Vocabulary – CRM, SharePoint, or Other
• Description, Freeform – Allow entry of 10 to 250 characters
• Product Delivery, Controlled Vocabulary – On-premise or Cloud
• Document Type, Controlled Vocabulary – Specification, White Paper, Blog, or Social
• Department, Controlled Vocabulary – Sales, Marketing, Product Management, or Support
• Sensitivity, Controlled Vocabulary – Classified, Top Secret, or Public

The value of metadata 

Metadata is a very flexible and powerful tool. It can automate actions and be easily created, shared and reused. If information has metadata, we know what it is, we know where it is and we know how to use it.

Examples of metadata include:

• Controlled terms chosen from a drop down menu or pick list and entered into a pre-established cell or field.
• Sets of keywords or terms used to annotate or ‘tag’ a web page or blog post.
• Information that is entered manually as free text descriptions.
• Information derived automatically from software.

We are all familiar with metadata in one form or another. Metadata gives raw data its wider meaning. For example, the metadata associated with an email includes: the name of the sender and receiver, the date and time the email was sent and received, and the subject.

Without this essential metadata, the purpose of the email will be unclear and its value as evidence will be non-existent.

Separated from metadata, digital information quickly becomes impossible to find, authenticate, view or migrate to new technology platforms.

When information is recognized as a vital agency asset, with a recognizable and manageable value, risk, content and life-cycle, then it makes sense to look for ways to improve metadata management processes.

Metadata is critical to support information management processes, and is an essential element of any system that manages any organization records. It is metadata that enables the creation, registration, classification, access, preservation and disposal of digital records.

In some respects, digital recordkeeping metadata is similar to the descriptive information that was captured on file covers and in file movement registers in paper-based recordkeeping systems.

In the digital business  environment, however, metadata must be actively collected and managed in order to find, understand, protect and maintain access to digital records over time. It is recordkeeping metadata that provides the evidentiary characteristics of the digital record.

Recordkeeping metadata assists agencies to identify, authenticate, describe and manage digital records in a systematic and consistent way through system migrations or government administrative change.

Metadata also:

• Ensures that contextual information about business transactions is captured and linked to the relevant record.

• Supports searching of records by using controlled vocabularies and linking to business functions.

• Controls access to records by nominating, usually at the time of records creation, the security or legal status of records or any other caveats on their retention or use.

• Reduces the risk of unauthorised access to records.

• Supports management of digital storage costs and helps ensure that records are not kept beyond the period of their administrative use, by identifying disposal requirements.

• Supports the identification and management of vital records.

• Aids planning for data migration and other preservation needs by identifying, in standardised and accessible ways, the software and hardware dependencies of records.

• Provides a benchmark for measuring the quality of recordkeeping within and between public authorities for auditing and other purposes. • Provides a key framework for specifying recordkeeping functionality when designing or procuring systems.

Baseline for capturing, describing, using and managing metadata about records to ensure digital continuity

Standardized recordkeeping metadata allows information management staff to:

• Identify the record

• Understand the purpose and meaning of the record

• Understand the record structure and format

• Manage access and disposal

• Track use history, including recordkeeping and archiving processes

• Restrict unauthorised use

• Enable discovery, retrieval and delivery

• Authenticate the records

• Migrate or export the records Recordkeeping metadata that is commonly implemented in digital recordkeeping systems includes:

• Identifiers (to identify an entity in the system such as a record or a record author),

• Dates (such as date registered or date destroyed), and

• Relationships and linkages from the record to other data about the business transactions that the record relates to.

In sophisticated digital recordkeeping systems (i.e. EDRMS), this metadata is captured automatically, in machine readable form, allowing for the automation of many recordkeeping tasks. However, managing metadata doesn’t require implementation of a complex new system.

Metadata is a record

It is also important to remember that metadata itself is a record.

Recordkeeping metadata is a key record that attests to the integrity of digital records by documenting their context and management history. Metadata and the associated relationships (e.g. document level associated with folder metadata) must therefore be maintained be permanently or for the lifespan of the records.

Examples of the type of folder level metadata that needs to be retained includes:

• File title
• Dates of creation and closure or, if not closed, date of last item added.
• Disposal actions including the retention and disposal schedule number, disposal class number, disposal action and disposal trigger.
• Date of destruction or other disposal (for example, transfer to different agency

In an EDRMS environment, individual document metadata that may be important to retain includes:

• Title/name
• Author (individual or organisation)
• Addressee, as appropriate
• Date of creation, date sent or last action