Metadata Standards in the Marketplace – Why Do I Care? (And Where Does Godzilla Fit In?)
M. Reed - May 16, 2000

Overview

Metadata ('data about data') is essential for data warehousing. In order to populate a database, extract data, or run a report, more is required than simply raw data. The tools involved must also 'understand' the context, or meaning, of the data. This is one of the purposes of metadata. Consider 2.5. This could be an amount in dollars, yen, or euros. It could be a mail stop at a company. It could be the height in meters of a member of the Boston Celtics. Nothing about the number itself can tell you what it means. To interpret an item like this, you need metadata...