The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20070106230115/http://www.linfo.org:80/metadata.html
`LINFO
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`Metadata Definition
`
`Metadata is data about data. Data is basically the same thing as information, although it
`is often in a form that is easier for humans and/or computers to use and manipulate.
`
`Information can be broadly defined as any pattern that can be recognized by some
`system (e.g., a living organism, an electronic system or a mechanical device) and/or that
`can influence the formation or transformation of other patterns. The pattern can be in any
`of a wide variety of forms, for example spoken or printed words, temperatures, visual
`images, pain, radioactivity, DNA, the structure of a crystal, color, or electron flows. It
`can range from extremely simple single binary values (e.g., yes or no, or zero or one) to
`something so complex that only a few human minds can understand it (e.g., Einstein's
`theory of relativity).
`
`Metadata is used to organize, locate, manipulate and otherwise work with data when it is
`not necessary or desired to actually deal with the data itself. This is because the metadata
`is usually far smaller and easier to work with than the data that it represents.
`
`Metadata can include information about various aspects of the data that it describes,
`including its structure, content, quality, context, origin, ownership and condition. There
`is usually some extent of separation between data and its metadata. Metadata can be
`stored in various forms and in one or numerous locations. Examples of types of locations
`in which metadata are commonly stored include computer databases, envelopes on
`letters, special pages on books (e.g., covers and title pages) and even bar codes and
`RFID (radio frequency identification) tags.
`
`For example, metadata for a book includes its title, author, publisher, copyright date,
`location of printing, language, price, category, ISBN (international standard book
`number), number of pages and binding type. Libraries usually add more metadata to a
`book after they purchase it, such as the date of acquisition, catalog number and copy
`number. Some of this metadata appears on or in the book, and most or all of it also stored
`in databases about books, such as electronic card catalogs and reference books about
`books.
`
`The metadata for an article in a periodical could include its title, subject, author, length,
`the name of the periodical, publication date, the section or page on which the article
`begins and whether or not it was peer reviewed.
`
`The metadata about a web page that is typically returned by a search engine (e.g.,
`Google or Yahoo) includes brief sampling of the contents and its URL (universal
`resource locator). Additional metadata about a web page includes its author, the human
`language in which it is written, the target audience, the dates of creation and last
`modification, keywords, file size, the markup language (e.g., HTML, XHTML or XML)
`in which it is written and any access restrictions (e.g., registration or passwords
`required).
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`Dropbox Exhibit 1010 - Page 1
`Dropbox, Inc. v. Entangled Media, LLC
`IPR2024-00285 - U.S. Patent No. 8,484,260
`
`

`

`Metadata can be about any kind of information or objects, including images, sounds,
`databases and collections. For example, in the case of an image it would include the
`name, creator (e.g., photographer or artist), date of creation, subject category, means of
`creation (e.g., photograph, painting, computer generated), copyright owner, file size (in
`bytes) and file format (e.g., jpeg, gif, png or tiff). Examples of collections that have
`metadata are books in a library, collections in a museum and inventories in a warehouse.
`
`Major functions of computer filesystems are the storing of metadata about files and
`facilitating the locating and manipulation of files. The metadata about a file on a Unix-
`like operating system includes its file type (e.g., data file, directory, link), name,
`timestamps (i.e., dates of creation, last access and modification), location on the
`filesystem, size (in bytes), its physical location (i.e., the addresses of the blocks of
`storage containing the file's data on a disk), ownership (usually the same as its creator),
`access permissions (i.e., which users are permitted to read, write and/or execute the file)
`and file type. There are several levels of file type, the broadest of which is plain text and
`binary; binary can be further broken down into such categories as word processing,
`image, sound and executable; each of these can be further broken down (e.g., sound file
`formats include au, avi, bwf, mp3, ogg and wav).
`
`An inode is a data structure on a Unix-like operating system that stores all the metadata
`about a file except its name(s)1; the name(s) and the actual data of the file are stored
`elsewhere. A data structure is a way of storing information in a computer so that it can be
`used efficiently.
`
`Because metadata is also data, it is possible to have metadata for metadata. This is
`referred to as meta-metadata. An example would be data about a number of databases,
`each containing the metadata for a library. Another example is a table in a relational
`database that contains information about all of the tables in the database (e.g., their
`name, use, date of creation, creator, access restrictions, number of columns, number of
`rows, etc.).
`
`Metadata has been used effectively for a long time. For example, thousands of years ago,
`when libraries consisted of piles of rolled-up scrolls, little tags were attached to each
`scroll so that its contents could be identified without having to open it. The development
`and rapid improvement in computers has made it much easier to create and use metadata.
`This has resulted in a rapid growth in the amount of metadata available and the extent to
`which it is used.
`
`The prefix meta is a Greek word that can mean after, among, change or with2, and data
`is Latin for information. The term metadata was coined by Jack E. Myers in 1969 and
`was first used in print in 1973 in a product brochure. The word Metadata (beginning
`with an upper case letter) was registered in 1986 as a trademark belonging to The
`Metadata Company; however, it is extensively used (beginning with a lower case m) in a
`generic sense.
`
`________
`1This storage of names elsewhere on such operating systems has the advantage of
`allowing any file to have multiple names.
`
`2This is similar to the term metaphysics, which literally means after physics and is the
`branch of philosophy that seeks to explain the nature of being and reality. The meta is
`used because this topic was physically located after the writings about physics in
`Aristotle's early works.
`
`Dropbox Exhibit 1010 - Page 2
`Dropbox, Inc. v. Entangled Media, LLC
`IPR2024-00285 - U.S. Patent No. 8,484,260
`
`

`

`Created March 21, 2006.
`Copyright © 2006 The Linux Information Project. All Rights Reserved.
`
`Dropbox Exhibit 1010 - Page 3
`Dropbox, Inc. v. Entangled Media, LLC
`IPR2024-00285 - U.S. Patent No. 8,484,260
`
`