On 16 February 2012 12:13, suzanne.pilsk <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> (Pssst: Does it matter if you call it data and I call it metadata?)

Yes. Yes it does. Although possibly not for the reasons you might
think I'll give.

I think it's really important that developers (and researchers) get
out of the mindset that:

a) metadata isn't data
b) metadata isn't important
c) data can't be both metadata and data

Because the chances are that it is all important, but in different
ways, and has different needs in frequency of use, indexing, etc.

Treating everything the same, and in one big bucket, is likely to slow
down the processes of indexing, locating, and scanning over possible
resources.

So there is a need to think about things in terms of what is required
for different purposes - what is needed for locating and describing
resources, and everything that is required to use those resources. And
that may well mean having bits of information that are duplicated in
more than one bucket.

But what we can't be is scared of identifying that there are different
needs and requirements, different scopes of relevant data. Or that
users actually have names for these scopes.

G