When discussing metadata, these terms are used to describe the core concepts:

• Taxonomy: This is a formal, hierarchical grouping of words, labels, and terms that are used to describe something.
• Folksonomy: This is an informal classification system containing labels, keywords, and terms applied by end users to describe something. If you've seen blog sites that have categories and tags, that could be an example of a folksonomy.
• Terms: This is a specific word or phrase linked to a SharePoint item. Each term has a unique ID, though it can have many associated labels or synonyms. There are two types of terms:
  • Managed Terms: This is a predefined or curated set of terms created and managed by a Term Store administrator.
  • Enterprise Keywords: This is a word or phrase that a user adds to an item. Keywords can be used in a folksonomy or informal tagging mechanism.
• Term Set: This is a group of related terms. Terms are typically organized in some sort of a hierarchy, such as Books > Cookbooks > Vegetarian. Term sets can be open (anyone can add terms) or closed (only specific users can add terms). In addition, term sets can have two different scopes:
  • Local: Only available within the context of a specific site collection, such as with a specific list or library
  • Global: Available to all sites that use the Managed Metadata service
• Groups: These are sets of term sets that share common security, business, or management requirements. To manage term sets in a specific group, a user must have contributor permissions for that group.
• Tagging: This is the process of applying a term (either from managed metadata or enterprise keywords) to an item.
• Managed Metadata Column: A column is a data structure that holds data (such as terms or other metadata), similar in concept to how you might add a column called notes to a spreadsheet. A Managed Metadata column displays terms from a specific term set to use when tagging data. A Managed Metadata column can use an existing term set or be mapped to a new local term set specifically for that column.
• Enterprise Keywords Column: This is a type of column that can be added to content (such as libraries or lists) that allows users to tag items with their own words.
• Term Store Management Tool: The Term Store management tool is used to manage term sets, terms, groups, and other aspects of the managed metadata service. To manage the Term Store, a user must be a member of Term Store Administrators.

Now that you have an understanding of the terminology for this section, you can learn how to configure and administer metadata.