A Common Sense Approach to Defining Data, Information, and Metadata

Abstract

This is a preprint of a paper published. Dervos, D. and Coleman, A. (2006). A Common Sense Approach to Defining Data, Information and Metadata. Advances in Knowledge Organization: Proceedings of the Ninth International Society for Knowledge Organization 2006 Conference, Vienna. June 2006, Edited by G. Budin and C. Swertz. Berlin: Ergon. Abstract: Many competing definitions for the terms data, information, metadata, and knowledge can be traced in the library and information science literature. The lack of a clear consensus in the way reference is made to the corresponding fundamental concepts is intensified if one considers additional disciplinary perspectives, e.g. database technology, data mining, etc. In the present paper, we use a common sense approach borrowed from the data mining community, which has successfully solved many data processing problems, to selectively survey the literature, and define these terms in a way that can advance the interdisciplinary development of information systems.