Open practically any kind of official paperwork and there will be numerous pieces of data competing for your focus. You might see a date at the beginning, a reference number nearby, the name of the person who sent the paper, the name of the person who receives it, and the topic or subject may be hidden within the opening sentence. Metadata is the data that describes and identifies a document. Knowing how to find it will help you with registering, filing, locating, and searching documents.
It can be tricky to determine what information is important. The challenge for a novice is not so much finding data as it is figuring out which data is most relevant. There might be several dozen names, dates, and numbers in a lengthy document, but only some of those will describe the entire document. Usually, a document’s date, author/sender, recipient, title/subject, reference number, document type, and status are more useful than the data in the body of the document. However, context plays a role so the specific information may differ; nonetheless, the overall objective remains the same, to gather sufficient data to differentiate between documents.
As a starting point, try a single example letter before tackling multiple files. Read it once to understand its content, then read it again while looking for only document information. Note who created the document, who it was sent to, when it was created, what it is about, and if it has a reference number. If it is a draft, a final copy, or an approved copy, note that as well. Record this information on a small spreadsheet or metadata form. This will separate reading the document from gathering metadata, making it easier to review.
Particular care is needed with dates since a single document may have several dates. For instance, a letter may discuss the date of a past meeting, may refer to a deadline within its content, and it may have the date it was issued. Making a mistake here could lead to confusion when registering or retrieving the document later. The same principle applies to names. The person described in the document may not be the author, the sender, or the recipient. Rather than picking the most prominent piece of data, look at the function of each bit of information.
Similarly, be careful when copying reference numbers and titles. If you enter one document as “Request,” another as “Request for Supplies,” and another just by its file name, you make it more difficult to search the register. Be consistent with the way you name subjects and other identifiers. You do not need to create an elaborate database for each file. You simply need to record information in such a way that someone can find the appropriate document without needing to go through several similar documents.
After entering several examples, review your spreadsheet rather than the documents. Can you tell which document is incoming and which is outgoing? Can you tell apart two documents with similar subjects? Do you know which one is the final copy? Are you missing any dates, senders, recipients, or reference numbers? A good set of metadata will help you answer these questions when the document itself is not available.
You will notice improvement when you move from scanning a document randomly to consciously looking for the identifying information. As you continue to practice, the date, sender, recipient, subject, reference number, and status will become recognizable as part of the document structure. Doing so will help you organize your register, file consistently, and find documents more easily.
