Metadata... Wait, isn't that one of the X-Men?

Before we dive into the 4th post of our blog TINN Can, lets do a small recap of what we have covered so far:

• Web 3.0 includes a number of different meanings ranging from the convergence of the physical and virtual worlds to the conversion of web pages to semantic data formats. When we say “nobody knows what the &!%$ it means,” we mean it.
•  Semantic web is a type of technology used in Web 3.0 and the idea is to structure the meaningful content of web pages.
• Ontology is a component of semantic web, which is used to interpret and analyze metadata. As this technology continues to improve, it will provide users with the exact information they need.

Now in our last post we introduced a new concept: metadata. Meta who? Yes, I know that it sounds like some sort of superhero out of a Stan Lee comic but we are far from that. Right about now you must be thinking, “I knew we had data but what is this metadata stuff you are throwing at me?”

For the purpose of our conversation, we will keep the definition of metadata as simple as possible. And metadata is, wait for it…

DATA ABOUT DATA

Wait, what? That’s it? Yup, for now that is it. We could go into the details of the different types of metadata available but we will leave that for our more curious readers who wish to expand their knowledge and perhaps complicate their lives a little bit more. (Hint: You have structural, descriptive, operational, analytical, Business, etc.)

When we say “data about data”, we mean, for instance, the data that describes the data fields in a database, what data is allowed or how are values expressed. Take for instance, a database with the birthdays of all the people in your company or your school. Now, birth dates can either be written as MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY, YYYY/DD/MM and so on… For this example the term metadata would apply to how the birth date values are kept in the database (Ex. MM/DD/YYYY). Hence, our data are the birthdays of everybody and our data about the data is how those birthdays are to be recorded in our database. We can even go further and include as part of our metadata where in the database the birthdays are recorded, who is the “owner” of this data, who has access to it, etc.

Now, what does this metadata crap have to do with Web 3.0 and how is this relevant to the users? Well, I’m glad you asked. Metadata allows Web 3.0 to be fully interconnected thus facilitating better information search, findings and an overall improvement in content management. What the hell is content management? We will leave that for a future post… All you need to know for now is that metadata will improve your experience in the web as we move forward into the Age of Information.