Metaangaben

MetaAngaben are terms derived from German that translate to "meta data" or "supplementary information" in English. They refer to information that describes, explains, or contextualizes primary data, documents, or objects. In many fields such as library science, digital archiving, and database management, MetaAngaben serve to provide essential metadata, such as titles, authors, dates, provenance, and technical specifications, that enable effective indexing, retrieval, and preservation of the underlying content.

In the context of digital documentation, a MetaAngaben block may include standardized tags and identifiers, for example, International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN), Digital Object Identifiers (DOI), or classification codes used by taxonomies. It may also encode the format, size, and licensing of a file. In scientific research, MetaAngaben often comprise experimental conditions, data collection methods, and provenance details, ensuring reproducibility and transparent peer review.

Within web development, MetaAngaben are commonly implemented as meta tags in HTML headers, specifying character sets, viewport settings, search engine optimization directives, and social media card metadata. The use of standard vocabularies such as Dublin Core, Schema.org, or FOAF allows systems to interoperate and harvest data efficiently across platforms.

The term also appears in metadata standards for geographic information systems, where it denotes attributes that describe spatial extents, coordinate systems, and data quality. Properly curated MetaAngaben improve discoverability, data quality assessment, and long-term digital preservation. They are increasingly essential for automated workflows, machine learning pipelines, and digital identity management, where contextual information is required to interpret, match, and secure data accurately.