Chapter 8. Locating Metadata

Metadata is critical to the success of any database archiving project. You simply cannot succeed unless you have complete and accurate metadata. Keeping data with no explanation of what it means will result in storing data for years that cannot be used if needed during the archive period.

Archiving has a greater need for good metadata than any other application of the data. This is because it describes data in today's form that will need to be interpreted years from now. Other current applications can depend on knowledge in the heads of various people who created the application, operate it, or maintain it. This can make up for the shortcomings of the metadata. In addition, the application programs themselves can ...

Get Database Archiving now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.