In metadata, metadata discovery (also metadata harvesting) is the process of using automated tools to discover the semantics of a data element in data sets. This process usually ends with a set of mappings between the data source elements and a centralized metadata registry. Metadata discovery is also known as metadata scanning.

Data source formats for metadata discovery

Data sets may be in a variety of different forms including:

A taxonomy of metadata matching algorithms

There are distinct categories of automated metadata discovery:

Lexical matching

Semantic matching

Semantic matching attempts to use semantics to associate target data with registered data elements.

Statistical matching

Statistical matching uses statistics about data sources data itself to derive similarities with registered data elements.

Vendors

The following vendors (listed in alphabetical order) provide metadata discovery and metadata mapping software and solutions

Research

Citations

Sources