Reference Metadata

Overview

Reference Metadata is a structured document of information which can be attached to any SDMX structure. Reference Metadata should be thought of as metadata to help the user understand more about the data. The information in a Reference Metadata report is textual, it is structured under headings/sub headings, and can be a mixture of data types including html, numbers, coded values, boolean, urls, and more.

Reference Metadata can be used for any purpose, it can be used to document more information about a Concept or a Code, or a mapping. Common use cases for Reference Metadata are to capture data quality metadata including aspects such as how the data was collected, legal information, contract information, and so on. The IMF Data Quality Framework provides a good example of this type of metadata, with their Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB) demonstrating the use of Data Quality Metadata in a collection and dissemination space.