The process of describing information assets with metadata is a foundation of information management. Descriptive metadata supports identification, organization, sorting, filtering, searching, validating, utilizing, migrating, preserving and disposing of your assets.

The use of structured metadata for describing information assets adds significant value to those assets.

Metadata should be applied consistently –  whether at a library, system, enterprise or jurisdictional level. Data governance is the discipline of formally managing metadata and ensuring that consistency is maintained. Metadata repositories and registries are tools that enable the standardization of metadata. a.k.a.® software delivers the platform to build your data governance instruments.

The key to finding information is to make search easier.

Good description significantly improves visibility and availability of information assets.- AIIM

Taxonomies and metadata are significant enablers for finding information assets.

Essentially it is things like structure, organization, and metadata that help the search engines do their job. The better things are organized and described, the better quality of results.-Connie Crosby

Search science includes techniques such as organizing information using meta-tagging and faceted classification; semantic search tools such as thesauri and ontologies provide the keys to searching large indexed collections. a.k.a.® software enables the development of all types of enterprise search tools:- controlled vocabularies, file plans, thesauri, ontologies, folksonomies.

To organize is to create capabilities by intentionally imposing order and structure. – Robert J Glushko

Systematically organizing information is essential for effectively managing enterprise content. Information architecture is the practice of organizing and structuring information to enable interaction with users.

The information architecture framework provides a structured description of the information assets and the relationship of those assets to business processes, business management, and IT systems – Forrester Research.

You can use a.k.a.® software to build and manage key components of the information architecture blueprint such as data dictionaries, data syntax rules, data ownership, security classification rules, and business classification models.

Information asset management is the effective management, control and protection of information assets within an organization.

The value of information changes over time and must be managed accordingly. – Gartner

Information Asset Management  (IAM) addresses the need to control your information assets throughout their lifespan and across all systems. Your organization must build capability to identify, value, and secure your assets.

Good information asset management protects the information your business relies on – and that means you can operate legally and accountably, and take informed decisions. It protects you from risk – the risk that you will lose information, or lose the functionality required to use the information you have to support your business requirements. – ITIL® Managing Digital Information Assets

Information interoperability is the ability to share, transfer and use information in a uniform and effective manner across organisations, business groups and information systems. Interoperability enables information systems to work together within and across organizational boundaries in order to advance the effective delivery of services for individuals and communities.

The current inability for electronic systems to speak the same language to one another and to efficiently and correctly transmit information – to be interoperable – is among the most pressing issues facing organisations today.

Interoperability is made possible by the implementation of standards including:

• Data structure standards (metadata element sets, schemas). These are “categories” or “containers” of data that make up a record or other information object.
• Data value standards (controlled vocabularies, thesauri, controlled lists). These are the terms, names, and other values that are used to populate data structure standards or metadata  element sets.
• Data content standards (cataloging rules and codes). These are guidelines for the format and syntax of the data values that are used to populate metadata elements.
• Data format/technical interchange standards (metadata standards expressed in machine-readable form). This type of standard is often a manifestation of a particular data structure standard (type 1 above), encoded or marked up for machine processing.

Source: http://www.getty.edu/research/publications/electronic_publications/intrometadata

a.k.a.® software delivers the platform to standardize and control your data and information assets, from which you can build and deploy a vast range of schemes.