--- title: "What is metadata?" date: "2025-01-09T16:25:16+00:00" summary: "Discover the power of metadata in digital asset management. Learn about types, formats, and best practices for organizing, searching, and exporting asset information efficiently with Acquia DAM (Widen)." image: type: "page" url: "/acquia-dam/what-metadata" id: "bf9dc905-0c8d-413d-bc14-bd8b63936a94" --- Metadata is information that describes and defines assets. It is in three formats: IPTC, XMP, and Exif. Metadata is as important as the assets themselves because it is a key component of the Acquia DAM (Widen), allowing you to easily search for and find assets. When you perform a search, all metadata is searched. Assets are assigned to [metadata types](/acquia-dam/what-are-metadata-types "What are metadata types?") while [metadata fields](/acquia-dam/what-are-metadata-fields "What are metadata fields?") provide more details about assets. The National Information Standards Organization breaks down metadata into these categories: * **Descriptive**: Metadata that describes a resource for purposes of discovery and identification and includes elements such as title, author, and keywords. * **Structural**: Metadata that indicates how compound objects are put together (e.g., how pages are ordered in chapters \[by file format, file dimension, file length\]). * **Administrative**: Metadata that provides information to help manage an asset, such as when and how it was created, its file format, and the people who can access it. Rights management metadata and preservation metadata are two subsets of administrative metadata. Metadata is customizable for each asset and is set up to meet your site's specific needs. For example, a photo of a product may contain metadata for the product name, product number, photographer, and description. A video asset may contain metadata for location, producer, language, and description. In search results, click an asset to view metadata on the Asset Details page or in the [Asset Digest](/acquia-dam/what-can-i-find-asset-digest "What can I find in the Asset Digest?").  ### Viewing IPTC and EXIF Metadata The embedded metadata (IPTC and EXIF) for applicable assets is now available in Asset Digest. If you need to view embedded metadata during your workflow, you can find it in the Asset Digest page. * In Asset Digest, navigate to the File Info tab. * The IPTC and EXIF data are housed under the Photography Info section within the File Info tab. * The IPTC and EXIF information is displayed in a read-only format and mirrors the data previously shown in the legacy Asset Details page.  ![Acquia-dam_photograpgy](https://acquia.widen.net/content/aa0c6d14-af95-45d4-96e3-313685d0c658/web/72a47_photograpgy.png?w=720&itok=8Et0n3ib) Note that this information is asset-conditional: if an asset does not have embedded IPTC or EXIF metadata, these sections will not appear in the File Info tab. This embedded metadata is for display only and is NOT queried when performing a search. If DAM admins have enabled the Display Exif and IPTC Data feature, you will see IPTC and Exif metadata tabs on the Asset Details page. The IPTC tab will not display for DNG files, however. If you would like, metadata can also be displayed on asset thumbnails in [search results](/acquia-dam/what-will-i-see-search-results "What will I see in search results?") when you show details. Contact the DAM Customer Support team to request this and check out our brief video to learn more about metadata. Learn more about adding metadata in the [Upload and Tag video](https://www.acquiaacademy.com/learn/course/internal/view/elearning/1507/upload-and-tag) in Acquia Academy. Export metadata --------------- After you place an order, you can export the metadata for assets in the order from the order [pickup page](/acquia-dam/what-will-i-see-order-pickup-page "What will I see on the order pickup page?"). To export metadata for assets in an order: 1. Click **Download Metadata** on the pickup page. 2. Choose to receive either a CSV or TXT file. ![Select to download metadata in a CSV or TXT from the order pickup page.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/d8beefba-9d91-4636-8d24-f46279abea2b/web/ka0Pb0000006trR00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005Lw1U.png) Metadata best practices ----------------------- We follow the [Dublin Core Metadata Initiative](http://dublincore.org/) (DCMI) when determining metadata best practices. Best practices include: * Start with a few metadata fields that are relevant to all assets and gradually move on to groups of less universally applicable fields (like those that are specific to certain file formats, products, or divisions in your organization). * Avoid overloading users with too many metadata fields. * Have a subject matter expert analyze the content of your site to help with decisions about categories and tags. * Adjust metadata and taxonomies as needed.