Metadata and Faceted Search
Metadata simply means data which describes other data. Examples of metadata are index, catalog, table of contents, tags, labels etc. Metadata can be used to optimize the content for access by search engines and most importantly to enable faceted search of a document. Metadata serves different purposes and exists everywhere. All one has to do is to recognize it and put it to use.
Faceted Search allows users to search by categories or facets. It assists one in narrowing down the results and to get precise results. It enables a user to explore various collections of documents by using multiple filters. Another name for faceted search is faceted navigation.
Faceted metadata is not used only for search. It merely describes content and is extremely flexible. When content is enhanced by metadata, users can navigate to specific content. Therefore, metadata provides the answers to future queries that users may come up with.
Some examples of faceted metadata are:
- A collection of images that have the details of the name of the artist, style, colour scheme, theme etc.
- A collection of recipes that has details of the name of the Chef,
type of cuisine, the name of ingredients that go into the dish,
cooking time etc. - A collection of songs that describe the artist, type of music, genre,
duration of the song etc. - Metadata forms an integral part of search. Without metadata,
chances of a successful search are slim. By improving metadata,
the success rate of search can be guaranteed.
SearchBlox supports out- of- the- box faceted search results and also supports collection. SearchBlox has been in the business for the past 15 years and since then has been providing businesses with simple, affordable solutions for their data management needs. For all your search requirements and queries, contact us at (866) 933–3626 and we will be too happy to do the needful.
