Metadata (MIT Press Ltd)

In the era of ubiquitous computing, metadata has become infrastructural, like the electrical grid or the highway system. We interact with it or generate it every day. It is not, Pomerantz tell us, just żdata about data.ż It is a means żeby which the complexity of an object is represented in a simpler form. For example, the title, the author, and the cover art are metadata about a book. When metadata does its job well, it fades into the background; everyone (except perhaps the NSA) takes it for granted. Pomerantz explains what metadata is, and why it exists. He distinguishes among different types of metadatażdescriptive, administrative, structural, preservation, and useżand examines different users and uses of each type. He discusses the technologies that make modern metadata possible, and he speculates about metadatażs future. Aby the end of the book, readers will see metadata everywhere. Because, Pomerantz warns us, itżs metadatażs world, and we are just living in it.