Metadata is increasingly central to enterprise IT architecture, and to applications ranging from data warehousing to CRM. Finally, there's a comprehensive, start-to-finish guide to implementing metadata solutions. Leading data management consultant Adrienne Tannenbaum covers the real issues associated with bringing together data from multiple sources, identifies the key challenges to building effective metadata systems, and presents practical solutions. Tannenbaum begins by focusing on data, its relationship to knowledge, why it is so hard to locate, and how metadata can help. She reviews the key elements of a metadata solution, including metamodels, metadata stores, and repositories, and presents a complete methodology for planning and implementing a metadata solution. She reviews non-technical factors such as readiness and scoping, as well as technical issues such as architecture, exchange, and presentation. Tannenbaum compares today's leading metadata approaches and solutions, including solutions that leave metadata in place, accessing it through a common portal or gateway, as well as solutions that centralize metadata. The book concludes with a thorough discussion of managing metadata solutions and maintaining metadata quality. Throughout, Tannenbaum presents extensive real-world examples and case studies garnered from her extensive consulting experience.