DATA-ENABLED LIFE SCIENCES ALLIANCE

Introducing metadata checklist for omics data

Big Data, Volume 1, Number 4, 2013
Edd Dumbill and Eugene Kolker

Abstract

How many times have you ignored a phone call because the number is unknown to you? Without the crucial context—the ‘‘metadata’’ of the data (i.e., who is on the other end)—the call is not effective. If metadata are missing from valuable life sciences data, the data can be similar to that phone call—just a string of ineffective numbers that go unused.