Abstract
This chapter explores the roles, conscious or otherwise, that metadata can play in supporting ideologies. An ideology can be defined as a system of beliefs which represents itself as a transparent reflection of reality. Metadata can be ideological if it attempts to fill the gaps in imperfect knowledge without acknowledging them. The terminology used in metadata can serve ideological purposes, as can the way in which it is organized (particularly if this is hierarchical). The idea that metadata is objective is also an ideological statement and should be treated with great caution.
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Gartner, R. (2016). Metadata as Ideology. In: Metadata. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40893-4_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40893-4_4
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