Metadomain

Metadomain is a term used in information architecture and metadata management to denote a domain whose primary purpose is to describe, organize, and govern other domains and their metadata. It acts as a layer for metadata about data domains, datasets, applications, services, and governance constructs, rather than containing the data itself.

Practically, a metadomain may specify metadata attributes, coding conventions, data stewardship assignments, data quality rules, lineage and provenance semantics, access policies, and retention requirements that apply across multiple domains. It provides a centralized schema or registry that supports consistency across diverse data domains and fosters cross-domain search and governance.

Metadomain is distinct from a metamodel. A metamodel describes the modeling constructs used to build models, whereas a metadomain describes the metadata associated with real domains and artifacts in an information landscape.

Applications include data catalogs and governance tools, enterprise metadata registries, ontology and taxonomy development, metadata-driven service catalogs, and policy enforcement across domains. By abstracting metadata governance into a metadomain, organizations can align stewardship, quality controls, and compliance across repositories.

Challenges include ensuring consistent definitions across domains, maintaining up-to-date metadata, and integrating heterogeneous metadata standards.

Related concepts include metadata, metamodels, ontologies, data governance, and domain-driven design.