Wednesday, October 05 2005 - blog
As of today, according to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition), the official spelling of "metadata" is in fact metadata.
Good. As you can see here, the lack of clarity on this subject has been a distinct pain point for me in the past.
I'm glad we can put that one finally to rest. I feel much better now.
So what do you think will Doug change his blog name now to metadouglas?
SteveThe Elventh Edition, eh? What do elves know about spelling? Cheers, Julian
Steve, why as of today? In Framework Design Guidelines (http://www.bookpool.com/sm/0321246756) it already says "metadata" (p. 39).:)
I'm surprised to see that the second entry for steganography is new. I swear I've seen this definition in print before. More importantly, "chick flick" is now an official noun, so this removes yet another pain point for you when discussing your favorite films.
Can you even have metametadata?All metadata is, by definition, data itself. Thus, metametadata == data that describes other data that describes other data, which is redundant and unnecessary. The definition of "data that describes other data" is sufficient for metadata, meta-metadata, and meta(n)-data. It's all just metadata, my friend.As far as I can tell, you have data and you have metadata, and that's all you need. The line between the two is admitted blurry at best.
Sweet, hyphens suck!
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