What a photo tells you
Somebody sends you a photo of a broken cable. The picture shows the cable.
But the file also records the time it was taken, the phone that took it and sometimes the place. None of that is in the picture itself. It is extra data that describes the photo.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can describe how extra facts about a file give it context.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Metadata | Data that describes other data. | File size |
| Context | Facts that explain what data is and where it is from. | Who made it, and when |
| Property | One named fact about a file or item. | Owner: sam |
| Timestamp | A record of the date and time something happened. | 2026-10-28 14:32 |
| Search | To look for items that match. | Find files owned by sam |
| Personal data | Data about a person who can be identified. | A name |
| Database | An organised store of data in tables. | A ticket system |
| Header | Extra facts placed at the start of a file or message. | An email header |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Metadata describes data
Metadata is data about data. It does not change the content of a file. It gives it context.
A document has a name, a size, an owner and a timestamp for when it was last changed. Each of those is a property. Together they tell you what the file is and where it came from.
Metadata in support work
| Item | The data | Metadata |
|---|---|---|
| A photo of a cable | The picture | Time taken, camera, place |
| A document | The words | Author, size, last changed |
| An email | The message | Sender, time sent, route taken (the header) |
| A database table | The rows | Field names and types |
| A server log file | The events | Name of the server, date range, who may read it |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check: data or metadata?
Have a go
Check: data or metadata?
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.