Metadata is a key aspect of databases. Not only does metadata provide valuable information about the data it holds, but it also helps users understand the relationships between data. For example, a financial transaction database can use metadata to explain how much money a particular person spent and for what purpose. This information can help users make better decisions about data in the database. For this reason, it is important to know how to manage metadata.
Data management tools should also track data lineage. This can help you identify where data has come from and where it has gone. This process is also known as data mapping. Using the right tool can help you streamline metadata communication between different departments. If you’re using a database for this purpose, you’ll want a solution that can pull all those conversations together.
Data catalogs are a great way to gain a unified view of data assets within an enterprise. The idea of a data catalog has been around since the early days of relational databases. It was originally designed to track data sets linked across SQL tables (more information). But modern data catalogs can inventory data and metadata from a wider variety of data sources.
Metadata management is a vital part of a company’s overall data strategy. Metadata makes it possible for organizations to discover, classify, and monetize their data. The growing influx of data makes it crucial to take a strategic approach to metadata management.
