Metadata are typically defined as 'data about the data'. With development of a common data architecture, the scope was expanded to include the documentation of all components of the common data architecture described above. The scope was further expanded to include the documentation of all components of the data resource framework, shown in the diagram below. The data management component specifies that data are an enterprise resource, managed by the same principles by which other resources are managed, managed cooperatively by all the stakeholders of the data resource, and that management is integrated with the business plans. The data availability component specifies that data can be readily accessed to support business activities, that an individual's and organization's right to privacy and confidentiality are honored, that the data are properly secured and recoverable in the event of a disaster, and that the data are used in an ethical manner.
Metadata are critically important for managing the data resource.
They are so important that, as a lexically challenged discipline, we can't spell it correctly or define it consistently. A better term for the expanded scope and critical importance of metadata is data resource data , defined as any data related to the complete understanding, formal management, and consistent use of an organization's data resource to support its business activities . Data resource data are the complete documentation of the entire data resource that is available to an organization. They are designed and integrated within the common data architecture and deployed as necessary in a dictionary, repository, or other information system, to support anyone using the data resource. The identification, capture, formalization, and documentation of business rules is a prominent trend in many organizations today.