Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Thoughts on Readings for Week 4
To be completely honest, before reading these articles I had no clue what the term Metadata even meant. Then when I read the one definition, "Metadata is data about data", I was thoroughly confused. Looking back after reading I'm not sure what was so confusing about that statement, its just data, about data. Perhaps what brought it to understanding was where they mentioned the metadata users make for pictures, such as headings and descriptions. Thus, during the Flickr assignment, we created metadata. It was just data, i.e. the heading and descriptions, about the data, i.e. the pictures that we uploaded. Thus I realized how very important to everyone metadata really is. Without it, we would not know what any data in the world contained until we read through it in its entirety. Much like databases, metadata provide us with a sort of filing system, or at the very least a heading to make life easier in the world of data. Without metadata and databases, much time and effort would be wasted just in the organization and finding of data before we even began to use it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
It can be really confusing to read about, but once you actually use it like with tags on Flickr or blogs it makes a lot more sense. I found the reading on the DCMI to be a little confusing, but really in the digital world I think it all comes down to linking. I tend to look at it like it increases the way things will be linked together. I have no idea if this is right, but it helps me to try to find use for it in my life.
Post a Comment