Businesses are managing more information than ever before. Keeping it all organized, searchable, and accessible isn’t easy, but thankfully, metadata makes it possible.
Metadata is data about your data. It tells you what a file is, when it was created, and how it’s meant to be used, so you don’t have to open it to understand what you’re looking at. Most people don’t give it much thought, but metadata plays a huge role in how we interact with our digital information every day.
From photos tagged by date and location to scanned documents labeled by client or department, metadata makes it easier to find, retrieve, and manage information.
Whether you’re thinking about switching from paper to digital recordkeeping or just adding new documents into an existing electronic records management system, the accuracy of the metadata added to your files directly impacts how searchable and usable they will be.
In this article, we’ll explain what metadata is, how it works, and why it’s such an important part of managing large archives of files, focusing specifically on its role in the document scanning and indexing process.
What is Metadata?
Metadata is information about your data. It helps describe, organize, and make sense of the files and records you work with, so they’re easier to manage and find.
Because metadata is stored with or alongside the file itself, it can be exposed as searchable, making it easier to sort, organize, and retrieve the right document when you need it.
Everyday Examples of Metadata
Metadata shows up in more places than most people realize. Here are a few examples you’ve probably come across without even noticing:
Photos
When you take a photo with your phone, metadata such as the date, time, and location where the photo was taken is automatically saved along with the image. This metadata can later be used to sort your photos by date or location.
Social Media Posts
When you post something online, metadata like the timestamp, device used, and location (if enabled) is often recorded. Platforms use this info to sort content and curate feeds.
Online Shopping
Product listings on e-commerce websites have metadata, including product categories, brand names, and customer ratings. This metadata helps you filter and sort through products more efficiently, making it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Music Files
If you have a collection of digital music, each song file likely includes metadata about the artist’s name, album title, and genre. You can then uses this metadata to search for a specific song, sort your library, or create a playlist.
Emails
Every email comes with metadata like the sender, recipient, time sent, and subject line. This information is can be used for sorting, searching, and organizing your inbox.
These are just a few real-world examples, but they illustrate the many ways in which metadata helps to organize and make sense of the vast amounts of data with which we interact every day.
What Are the Different Types of Metadata?
Not all metadata serves the same purpose. Different types of metadata are used to describe, organize, and manage data in different ways. Here’s the three most common types of metadata and what they’re used for.
Descriptive Metadata
Descriptive metadata includes details about the contents of a file, like the title, author, subject.
If you’ve ever searched for a document using a name, date, or topic, you’ve used descriptive metadata. It’s the kind of information you’ll typically find in a search field, helping you sort through a long list of files with a simple keyword search.
For example, when a document is scanned and indexed, descriptive metadata can be added to the file with the client name, invoice number, or project title. That way, you can pull up exactly what you need in seconds, even years down the line.
Structural Metadata
Structural metadata explains how different parts of a file or group of files fit together. It gives structure to your data, helping systems, and people, understand the relationship between each part.
A good example is a multi-page scanned document. Structural metadata keeps those pages in the right order and links them as a single, connected file. It’s also used to define things like sections, chapters, or file groupings within a larger collection.
Without structural metadata, complex files can quickly become disorganized, making it harder to maintain context or navigate through the content.
Administrative Metadata
Administrative metadata is the behind-the-scenes details that help you manage a file throughout its lifespan. This includes things like file format, when it was created, and who created it.
There are a few common categories within this type:
Rights information outlines ownership and usage permissions, such as copyright or licensing terms.
Preservation details are used to support long-term storage, helping archivists and records managers track how a file has changed over time or what conditions are needed to keep it intact.
Technical specs include information like file size, resolution, or the software required to open the file.
Why Metadata Matters
Metadata plays a major role in how data is organized, used, and understood. Without it, managing large volumes of digital files would be messy, inefficient, and time-consuming. Here’s how:
It Makes Information Easier to Find
Adding metadata to a file, like a title, keyword, or date, makes it text-searchable. Instead of sifting through folders or opening documents one by one, you can search by text for the information tied to each file and pull up what you need.
It Adds Meaning and Context
A file by itself doesn’t always tell you much. Metadata fills in the blanks. It can show when a document was created, who it came from, or what it relates to, giving you the context needed to understand and use the information more effectively.
It Helps Keep Data Organized
When you’re managing hundreds or thousands of documents, structure matters. Metadata makes it easier to group, sort, and categorize files so your system stays clean and easy to navigate, even as it grows.
It Supports Security and Compliance
Metadata can include details about who can access a file, how long it should be retained, and whether it contains sensitive information. This kind of information is important for meeting compliance requirements and staying in control of your data.
It Improves Long-Term Access
For digital records that need to be preserved, metadata helps ensure they remain usable down the line. It can include technical details about file format, software requirements, and usage rights, all the things someone might need years from now to understand what the file is and how to use it.
It Leads to Better Decision-Making
Clean, well-structured metadata makes data easier to trust and act on. Whether you’re searching records to answer a customer question or reviewing a set of reports for a strategic decision, metadata makes the process faster and more reliable.
How Is Metadata Used In the Document Scanning Process?
Metadata makes your scanned documents searchable, organized, and easy to work with.
When we scan your documents, information like invoice numbers, dates, names, or other identifiers, can be captured and stored as metadata alongside the file. This process can be automated using OCR (optical character recognition) software or extracted manually, depending on the complexity of the document.
Extracting this data allows your files to be “indexed” and searched by these data points. So, instead of just relying on the filename, you can pull up what you need quickly by searching through the metadata. The result is a much more efficient system that makes it easier to access and manage your records.
At SecureScan, we can extract as many data points as you need during the scanning process. Whether you’re dealing with invoices, contracts, or medical records, this extra data makes your digital files much more useful from day one.
Choosing the Right Metadata For the Job
Choosing what information to extract and attach as metadata during the scanning process has a big impact on how useful your digital records will be, not just now, but long term.
The fields you decide to capture shape how your documents are searched, sorted, and used. For one business, that might mean indexing invoices by vendor name, invoice number, and payment status. For another, it could mean tagging HR files with employee ID numbers, job titles, and review dates. There’s no one-size-fits-all setup.
The key is selecting metadata fields that reflect how your team works and how your records are used in day-to-day tasks. Well-structured metadata keeps your files organized, speeds up retrieval, and supports internal processes like reporting, compliance, and customer service.
At the same time, inconsistent indexing can create real challenges. If important fields are missed, or the wrong ones are chosen, it becomes harder to find what you need.
That’s why planning ahead matters. Taking the time to figure out which pieces of information are most relevant to your team makes your digital system more intuitive and reliable from the start.
The Role of Unique Identifiers
Assigning a unique identifier to each document is one of the best ways to ensure that your files don’t get lost in the shuffle. Whether that’s an invoice number or a customer ID, it allows for fast, accurate lookups, especially in large data sets where file names alone aren’t enough. Each document type may have several unique identifiers, and each can be indexed depending on your use case.
Consistency Makes It Work
Once you decide which metadata fields to use, consistency is everything. Each document should be indexed in the same way, with the same types of information in the same format. That’s how you keep your system organized and scalable. At SecureScan, we help identify the right indexing structure for your business and make sure it’s applied accurately throughout the scanning process.
Get Your Metadata Right From the Start
The value of your digital recordkeeping system depends on how easy it is to search, retrieve, and work with your files, and that all starts with the quality of the metadata created during indexing.
At SecureScan, we take accuracy seriously. Our team uses a double-blind data verification process to achieve 99.9% accuracy when extracting metadata from your documents. Each file is reviewed by two separate operators, and the results are automatically cross-checked to catch and fix any discrepancies. It’s a proven process that protects the integrity of your data and ensures your records stay reliable and easy to use.
If you’re planning a scanning project and want to make sure your documents are as usable and organized as possible, we’re here to help. Contact us to learn more or give us a call at (877) SCAN-DOC to speak with a scanning technician.