View source for Metadata

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|formattype=electronic
|thiscat=Metadata
|image=Ontology.png
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'''Metadata''' is extra non-critical information about the main contents of a file, or about the circumstances in which a file was created, etc.

Many, many formats contain data that could be considered to be metadata, but this page is only concerned with dedicated metadata formats which, for one reason or another, are best documented as separate formats.

Metadata is a great thing to have for publicly-available files, but there's a sinister side to it too... it's come out lately that all sorts of people are snooping into the metadata of your life (such as who you're calling or e-mailing), and this can reveal a lot about you.

== Metadata formats ==

* [[Debian source control file]]
* [[disc.id]]
* [[EPOC AIF]]
* [[Exif]]
* [[FILE_ID.DIZ]]
* [[ID3]]
* [[Internet Archive metadata]]
* [[IPTC]]
* [[MakerNote]]
* [[MEF (Metadata Exchange Format)]]
* [[METS]] (Metadata Encoding & Transmission Standard)
* [[MIX]] (Metadata for Images in XML Standard)
* [[mtree]]
* [[NFO]]
* [[Photoshop Image Resources]]
* [[Portland Common Data Model]]
* [[RDF]]
* [[SAUCE]] (Standard Architecture for Universal Comment Extension)
* [[SRR]]
* [[SRS]]
* [[Structured Data (Wikimedia)]]
* [[Windows Shortcut]]
* [[XMP]]

== Metadata subcategories in other formats ==

* [[Archiving#Metadata formats|Metadata formats related to archiving]]
* [[Audio and Music#Metadata formats|Metadata formats related to audio and music]]
* [[Graphics#Metadata Formats|Metadata formats related to graphics]]
* [[Video#Metadata formats|Metadata formats related to video]]
* [[Web#Feeds, syndication, and metadata|Metadata (and feed/syndication) formats related to the Web]]

== See also ==
* [[:Category:Metadata]]
* [[Bibliographic data]]
* [[Metaformats]]

== Links ==
* [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130708/01453123733/anyone-brushing-off-nsa-surveillance-because-its-just-metadata-doesnt-know-what-metadata-is.shtml Anyone Brushing Off NSA Surveillance Because It's 'Just Metadata' Doesn't Know What Metadata Is]
* [https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/09/metadata_equals.html Metadata Equals Surveillance]
* [http://boingboing.net/2014/02/10/us-drones-could-be-killing-the.html US drones could be killing the wrong people because of metadata errors]
* [http://blog.ironholds.org/art-as-data-as-art/ Art as data as art]
* [http://webpolicy.org/2014/03/12/metaphone-the-sensitivity-of-telephone-metadata/ MetaPhone: The Sensitivity of Telephone Metadata]
* [http://erikpiil.com/2014/07/08/misunderstanding-meta/ Misunderstanding Metadata]
* [http://infomotions.com/sandbox/liam/tmp/guidebook.pdf Linked Archival Metadata: A Handbook]
* [https://www.coursera.org/course/metadata Metadata: Organizing and Discovering Information (Coursera course)]
* [http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2015/03/30/tupac-2pac-music-industry-still-doesnt-know Tupac, or 2Pac? Sadly, Music Industry Still Doesn’t Know…]
* [https://www.avpreserve.com/news/avpreserve-releases-mdqc-version-0-3-update/ MDQC: program to read metadata of files and compare to specs]