Simon Willison’s Weblog

A better definition of Metadata

1st October 2003

Ned Batchelder: Metadata is nothing new. Ned includes a far better definition of metadata than the standard “data about data” phrase:

Metadata is information about a thing, apart from the thing itself.

Ned also offers clear examples of metadata in the real world and shows how the concept goes back thousands of years. If you still don’t quite understand what the term means you won’t have any excuses once you’ve read his article.