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Annotation of loncom/html/adm/help/tex/Metadata_Description.tex, revision 1.3

1.2       bowersj2    1: \label{Metadata_Description}
1.1       bowersj2    2: 
                      3: \index{Metadata}\label{What Is Metadata?}\emph{Metadata} is \emph{data about data}. Metadata can often be thought
                      4: of as a label on some bit of information that can be useful to people or
                      5: computer programs trying to use the data. Without metadata, the person or
1.3     ! vandui11    6: computer trying to use the original information would have to guess
        !             7: what the original data is about. For example, if you create a problem and
1.1       bowersj2    8: neglect to say in the title or subject of the problem what it is about, then
                      9: a human who wants to use that problem would have to read the problem itself
                     10: to see what it was about, which is much more difficult than just reading
1.3     ! vandui11   11: a title. A computer trying to do the same thing would be out of luck;
1.1       bowersj2   12: it is too stupid to understand the problem statement at all.
                     13: 
                     14: One example of metadata is the <title> of a web page, which usually shows
1.3     ! vandui11   15: up in the title bar of the browser. That is information about the web page
        !            16: itself and is not actually part of the web page. People use the title information
        !            17: when they bookmark a page. Search engines
1.1       bowersj2   18: use it as a clue about the content of the web page.
                     19: