How metadata management software can help you
Selling products online? Managing your photo library? Storing sensitive data like social security numbers or financial records? What you’re doing likely involves information of some kind, and that information probably has metadata associated with it. This metadata can be used to make your life easier, but only if you have the right software to manage it all. Here’s how metadata management software can help you.
What is metadata?
Metadata is data about data. Each digital file has a certain amount of metadata associated with it — information like when and where it was created, who created it, and what format(s) it takes. This metadata is stored in different formats, such as plain text or XML, and kept in an accompanying document called a metadata catalog. While that may sound complicated, most metadata programs are fairly straightforward to use — just remember that they offer more than just basic tagging and search capabilities.
Metadata plays an essential role in digital preservation, which is why it’s important to choose a metadata management program that’s compatible with your company’s needs. Here are some things to consider when shopping for a program:
- Does it support multiple file formats?
- Does it connect to outside databases and applications?
- How easy is it to use?
- Does it come with training and support materials? (You may also want to check out metadata consulting services.) If there’s one thing all these programs have in common, though, it’s that they offer a wide range of customizable fields so you can add relevant information to each file.
Why is metadata important?
Metadata is data about data, which means it’s important to pretty much everything. You know that annoying little information box that pops up when you search something online? That’s metadata at work. When you start your car and it says time: 7:12 a.m., outside temp: 35 degrees that’s another form of metadata at work. In short, metadata allows us to interpret and process information more easily, resulting in faster decision-making with better results all around.
If you’re a small business owner or an executive at a large company, it’s easy to see how metadata makes your life easier. Every time you search for something, more and more companies and services (including Google!) are able to learn about your habits and provide better results that fit your needs. Not only that, but all of those metadata improvements made directly affect your bottom line. When it comes down to it, metadata helps businesses of any size understand what they’re doing right and where they need to improve—and everything else in between.
Benefits of Metadata Management Software
Data about your data is just as important as your data itself. And that’s where metadata management software comes in. It lets you organize, modify, and search your files so they’re more usable. But if your business is handling large amounts of information, it becomes harder to manage all of that data manually—metadata makes sure these documents are organized and accessible for everyone working with them. Some common features include
Managing information with metadata can benefit a business in many ways. In addition to helping your team find what they need, it gives them a sense of order, which reduces clutter and improves productivity. It’s especially useful for teams that have to work together on a project because all team members will have access to any information they need. Metadata also helps protect sensitive or proprietary data from unauthorized users and allows backups to be easily identified so systems won’t become overloaded. A business also benefits from external storage facilities being protected by these technologies due to their increased security, allowing them access when needed but being hidden from unwanted eyes.
What are the Best Metadata Management Software Solutions?
Metadata, or data about data, is a significant part of creating and storing digital assets. In fact, it’s essential that every asset have metadata to describe its characteristics. If you’re a busy professional or small business owner who needs to organize and access your digital assets efficiently, your first step should be choosing a good set of tools for keeping track of your image and video files’ metadata. Metadata management software makes it easy to tag images with relevant information so that you’ll always know what’s in each photo without having to search through it visually. You’ll also find new assets quickly so that they don’t get buried in your storage system.
