Preface [to Developing metadata application profiles]

Abstract

[Extract] This book is concerned with the processes for development of metadata application profiles, in an increasingly complex world of data, information standards and requirements for data exchange and interoperability. The appearance of this book is timely. The rapid rise in the importance of data science is driving an urgent need for better metadata in order to manage and exploit the ‘data deluge’. As interdisciplinary research becoming more prevalent, the issue of interoperability (or lack thereof) between contexts comes into sharp focus. Furthermore, the concept of ‘metadata’ has, in recent years, entered into mainstream consciousness. No longer an obscure concern for a small group of information professionals and researchers, metadata is fashionable and the average citizen now has at least heard the term and has some awareness that metadata is important.