Best Metadata Management Tools: When you think of metadata, most likely the first thing you think of is cataloging. However, this is just one of many ways in which metadata can be used to bring efficiency to your organization’s processes. We live in an information-rich world, and it only gets more information-packed every day.
In fact, according to a recent report from the World Wide Web Foundation, the volume of digitized information has increased so quickly that it will grow from 200 trillion bytes in 2012 to nearly 700 trillion bytes by 2020 — a staggering 230% increase in just 6 years. That’s why it’s more important than ever for businesses to find ways to streamline their workflows and ensure that everyone is working with organized data at all times. Metadata management tools are one way to do this.
- The Importance of Good Metadata Management | Best Metadata Management Tools
- What is metadata | Best Metadata Management Tools
- Why is effective metadata management important | Best Metadata Management Tools
- Metadata management tools for organizing and collaborating | Best Metadata Management Tools
- Metadata management tools for searching and retrieving | Best Metadata Management Tools
- Bottom line | Best Metadata Management Tools
The Importance of Good Metadata Management | Best Metadata Management Tools
Metadata is data that describes other data, and good metadata management is crucial for any organization that relies on digital information. After all, how can you know where a given file or document is located if you don’t know what it’s called? How can you ensure that the information in a given file is accurate if you don’t know who created it or when? How can you ensure that digital information is being properly secured if you don’t know where it’s stored?
Without good metadata management, digital data is much less effective than it could be — and that’s a problem in any industry, but particularly in fields like healthcare and education, where digital information is an integral part of everyday operations.
What is metadata | Best Metadata Management Tools
Metadata is the data that describes other data. Generally, it refers to information about a file’s content, author, date created, date last modified, and other related details. It is often used to help organizations catalog and organize their digital information. Metadata is also useful for searching and retrieving information as it helps to specify and narrow down what you’re looking for.
Why is effective metadata management important | Best Metadata Management Tools
Although metadata is often thought of as a “nice to have”, it is crucial for making sure that information is properly organized and accessible. Metadata can help you to find the information you need, but it can also keep track of the information you have, helping to ensure that it is properly stored. For example, if you have a document that includes a phone number, email address, mailing address, and website address, then that document would be incomplete without metadata, as those are all pieces of information that are crucial to making the document useful.
Metadata management tools for organizing and collaborating | Best Metadata Management Tools
The tools listed below are best for organizing and collaborating on metadata for your entire organization. These tools are designed to let users work together in real-time to manage metadata across all of your organization’s digital assets, helping you to ensure that information is properly organized and easily retrievable.
Workflow – Tools like these can let users assign metadata to new or existing documents, or they can even create a workflow to assign metadata to existing documents. Exporting – Export functionality can let you take your metadata, or the metadata of an entire repository, and export it to an external location across a variety of different formats.
Metadata management tools for searching and retrieving | Best Metadata Management Tools
The tools listed below are best for retrieving information based on specific metadata. These tools let you search for information based on metadata, bringing up files and folders that match your query. Categorization – Categorization tools let you assign metadata to files as you upload them, creating a virtual “folder” for them within your repository. Interrogation – These tools let you interrogate your metadata, allowing you to search for information based on metadata that has been assigned to files.
Bottom line | Best Metadata Management Tools
It’s easy to underestimate the importance of metadata, but the truth is that it’s crucial for any organization that relies on digital information. If you want to make sure that information is properly organized and easily retrievable, then you’ll want to make sure your team has solid metadata management processes in place.