Meta Data Service

Meta is a prefix that in most information technology usages means "an underlying definition or description." Thus, metadata is a definition or description of data and metalanguage is a definition or description of language. Meta (pronounced MEH-tah in the U.S. andMEE-tah in the U.K.) derives from Greek, meaning "among, with, after, change." Whereas in some English words the prefix indicates "change" (for example, metamorphosis), in others including those related to data and information, the prefix carries the meaning of "more comprehensive or fundamental."

By simple definition, metadata is data about data. Metadata is structured information that explains, describes, or locates the original primary data, or that otherwise makes using the original primary data more efficient. A wide variety of industries use metadata, but for the purposes of digital imaging, there are currently only a few technical structures or schema that are being employed. A schema is a set of properties and their defined meanings, such as the type of value (date, size, URL, or any useful designation)

Meta Data Services is an object oriented repository technology that can be integrated with enterprise information system or with applications that process metadata

We can use Meta Data Services for our own purposes: as a component of an integrated information system, as a native store for custom applications that process metadata, or as a storage and management service for sharing reusable models. You can also extend Meta Data Services to provide support for new tools for resale or customize it to satisfy internal tool requirements 

The Metadata Service provides registration, retrieval, of metadata elements, metadata schemata, and metadata profiles of resources.