In this video, you’ll learn about:
- The basic concept of metadata and its importance.
- How metadata is different from traditional folder structures.
- The various terms used to describe metadata.
By watching this video, you will understand:
- How metadata classifies information and adds context to your files.
- How metadata is represented in document libraries.
- How to use metadata for better organization and search capabilities.
- How metadata helps maintain a single source of truth for your documents.
Transcript
Welcome to Spot on SharePoint, metadata and you. Module 1, what is metadata? You’ve probably heard a lot about metadata lately, but what is it really? Metadata is the information you use to add contacts to your files. It’s a way of classifying your information that replaces traditional folder structures and is a key component of most new systems and applications.
But it can be a bit confusing and overwhelming. Everybody calls metadata something different. From categorization to modern classification, All of these terms are just different ways of describing the same thing. They’re describing the way that we make sense and build structure around the documents that we use every day, and the way that we make sure that other people can find what we’re looking for. Let’s take a look at an example.
Metadata is represented by the columns of information associated to your documents in your library. By clicking on a column, you can see any preset values that were assigned by your administrator. Metadata is also used in views as a way of seeing information in different ways. Here, they’re grouped by doc type, but I can go further. I can filter on a particular value and see only items that are associated with that value in my view.
If I go back to the top level, I can see that metadata can assign more than one value in a category. In this case, if I filter on information technology, I can see both reports, even the one that is also human resources. In this way, you can avoid eroding your single source of truth. We hope this has helped to demystify metadata and give you confidence that metadata can help you. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us.