Unit 1.1 Who should create metadata?
Unit overview
Unit study time
- 15 minutes
Intended Learning Outcome
By the end of the unit, you will be able to:
- Explain why all projects, regardless of size, require at least minimal metadata.
Metadata: a recap
Before we look at creating metadata, let's recap what metadata is.
Try answering the following questions in your own words.
What is metadata?
Metadata is a form of structured data documentation that describes data. It gives the context needed to understand data and use it in a meaningful way. It is often referred to as 'data about data'.
CODATA describes metadata as:
Data about data. It is data (or information) that defines and describes the characteristics of other data. It is used to improve the understanding and use of the data.
See Unit 2.1 in the Introduction course for more information about metadata.
What are the features of metadata that differentiate it from other forms of documentation?
Unlike other forms of free-text documentation, metadata is machine-readable documentation.
To be machine-readable, metadata needs to be:
- Structured
- Created and stored in machine-readable formats
- For example: CSV, XML, SAV, XLS, JSON, RDF, SHP
By being machine-readable, metadata is also machine-actionable.
This means we can use machines to organise and utilise metadata at scale.
For example, machine-actionable metadata enables searching and filtering on platforms such as data repositories and data catalogues (see Unit 2.4 in the Introduction course for more information about the role of metadata in these platforms).
Who should create metadata?
Now that we’ve recapped what metadata is and why it matters, the next question is who actually creates it.
Metadata is not produced in the same way for every project. What you need to record, and who is responsible for doing so, depends on the size, aims, and context of your research.
In this section, we look at how metadata creation differs between small independent projects and larger studies that intend to share their data more widely.
What metadata you create and how you create it will depend on the scope, size, and aims of your research. We will explore how to determine what metadata to create in the What metadata should you create unit.
However, all research—regardless of size—should have some level of metadata to describe what the project is about and what data it contains.
A small project that does not plan to share its metadata or data will have a different approach to metadata creation than a larger project that intends to share its data and metadata widely.
If you are working on a small research project and are not planning to share your data (or will only share it with a small number of colleagues or collaborators), your metadata will mainly be for personal use or for people who have direct contact with you.
As such, you can take a more streamlined approach to creating metadata, documenting key aspects of the project to support data management and understanding.
Benefits of creating metadata for personal use
- Helps you understand your data when you return to it in the future
- Enables you to build on your research when designing future projects
- Makes it easier to share your data later if needed
If you are working on a project that will be publicly discoverable and share its data widely, you will need a more robust approach to creating metadata.
Your metadata will be a vital tool in making your project findable and accessible to people outside your research team.
In addition, if you deposit your (meta)data in a repository or catalogue, you will need to ensure it meets their requirements and is standardised and interoperable.
Benefits of creating metadata for shared data
- Allows others to discover and understand your study without direct contact
- Enables interoperability and supports depositing data in repositories or catalogues
- Enhances transparency and trustworthiness
- Increases potential citations by improving discoverability
- Saves time responding to queries about your data
- Encourages reuse and cross-study comparisons
- Supports the FAIR principles and best practice
Creating metadata in the Foundation course
In the Foundation course, we will focus on metadata creation for small independent research projects.
While the metadata elements we explore will also be relevant for large-scale research projects, larger projects that aim to share data will need to consider additional requirements, such as repository or catalogue standards and more extensive metadata documentation.