As the integration of statistical data collected in various subject
matter domains becomes more and more important in several socio-economic
etc. investigation areas the management of so-called metadata - a formal
digital processing of information about data - gains tremendously
increasing relevance. Unlike current information technologies (e.g.,
database systems, computer networks, ...) facilitating merely the
technical side of data collation, a coherent integration of empirical
data still remains cumbersome, and thus rather costly, very often
because of a lack of powerful semantic data models capturing the very
meaning and structure of statistical data sets. Recognizing this
deficiency, "Metadata Management" proposes a general framework for the
computer-aided integration and harmonization of distributed
heterogeneous statistical data sources, aiming at a truly comprehensive
statistical meta-information system.