Literally, “data about data”; data that defines and describes the characteristics of other data, used to improve both business and technical understanding of data and data-related processes. Business metadata includes the names and business definitions of subject areas, entities and attributes, attribute data types and other attribute properties, range descriptions, valid domain values and their definitions. Technical metadata includes physical database table and column names, column properties, and the properties of other database objects, including how data is stored. Process metadata is data that defines and describes the characteristics of other system elements (processes, business rules, programs, jobs, tools, etc.). Data stewardship metadata is data about data stewards, stewardship processes and responsibility assignments.
