Research has become increasingly data-intensive. Many funding agencies, such as National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) have started to implement policies and guidelines regarding data management and sharing. In such context, metadata is a term that is often used but not always explained or defined.

A recent blog post by Bonnie Swoger, a librarian at SUNY Geneseo, does an excellent job in explaining metadata using examples many , if not all, can related to. Swoger blogs at Information Culture, a Scientific American blog.

Read on and happy holidays! What is metadata? A Christmas themed exploration.