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Subject:Re: User friendly term for Metadata From:"Wing, Michael J" <mjwing -at- INGR -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 28 Apr 1999 18:01:06 -0500
Pete;
I don't really know a more precise word. At least for the way that metadata
is applied in your case. As others have pointed out, it is a "catch all"
term which does not transpose its meanings across applications.
We use metadata to refer to the contents of database tables that are tables
about tables. That is, a metadata table may list all the other tables in
the database. This list may contain the name of the main geometry field in
each table, the type of geometric data stored in a field, give
alternative/alias names for each table, and so forth. This allows a user to
retrieve key information about a table without having to test each field
and/or record.
I would not use header. In programming, a header means one thing (such as a
reference to an include file). In graphics, header means something else
(such as pixel resolution, geo-referencing data, positioning) as it appears
at the head of the file. In soccer, it means something else again (ok, I'm
stretching a bit).
I would suggest keeping the word metadata but with a big, easy-to-find
explanation as to what you mean by metadata in your document.
Mike
P.S. Other terms we can add to the ambiguous, catch-all category (as used
in software documentation) are: front-end application, wrapper, helper, and
engine. Terms I would never like see again in documentation and brochures
include: Leading Edge (or Bleeding Edge), State of the Art, Pushes the
Limit, Sets a new standard, and New and Improved.
Mike
Michael Wing (mailto:mjwing -at- ingr -dot- com)
Staff Writer/ Web Applications Developer
Intergraph Corporation; Huntsville, Alabama http://maps.intergraph.com
> Hi.
>
> Metadata means "data about data." In the software I'm documenting, an end
> user can build custom data views using metadata fields. For example, I
> could
> choose the file name, file location, thumbnail, and file size metadata
> fields in building such a data view. Then, when I view a file, I only see
> that information.
>
> However, I feel metadata could be intimidating to our end users. Our
> audience ranges from sys admins to librarians. A possible choice is
> "header", but that's a little vague. Does anyone have some good
> suggestions?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Pete
>
>
> From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=
> =
>
