meta-data

Descriptive information about a data object; i.e., data about data, or data labels that describe other data. (See: security label. Compare: metadata)

Tutorial: Meta-data can serve various management purposes:

• System management: File name, type, size, creation date.
• Application management: Document title, version, author.
• Usage management: Data categories, keywords, classifications.

Meta-data can be associated with a data object in two basic ways:

• Explicitly: Be part of the data object (e.g., a header field of a data file or packet) or be linked to the object.
• Implicitly: Be associated with the data object because of some other, explicit attribute of the object.