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Research Guides@Tufts

Research Data Management @ Hirsh Health Sciences Library

Data Standards vs. Metadata Standards

When working with data, from the beginning of research through the deposit of data into a repository, the information connected to the data is critically important to making it findable, interpretable, and reusable. Though they sound similar metadata standards and data standards deal with two components within data management. 

Metadata Standards is data about data–structured information that describes, explains, locates, and facilitates the retrieval of information. You most often encounter this in a database when searching the specific components of the thing you are looking for. It can be descriptive, identifying datum such as title, author, and abstract. It can be structural, such as outlining the relationships between documents or files. Or it can be administrative, identifying the version, copyright and use restrictions on a data set.

Data Standards on the other hand define the individual elements included in a data collection, outlining how the data itself will be captured an described. Because each research field is interested in specific types of data points, these standards are often field-specific, thought not all research fields have an established standard.

Generally Applicable Standards & Directories

Data Standards in Health