隨著網路的迅速發展，對網路資訊資源的組織日顯必要和迫切，作?描 述促進資訊資源?促進資訊資源發現的元資料因而受到益發普遍的重視。本文首 先簡述元資料的定義，?對其內涵和重要性做進一步的闡釋；隨後，介紹了元資 料的類型和作用；最後，在列舉了元資料在全世界範圍內的典型應用實例之外， 著重簡要說明了中國大陸目前的元資料應用專案。

　　　　　With the rapid development of the network, it becomes more and more necessary and emergent to organize the networked information resource. As a means to describe the information resource and provide access to it, metadata has been taken seriously during these years. At first, the article gives a brief introduction to the definitions of metadata and further explanation of its connotation and importance. Then, the types and roles of metadata are dealt with in the article. At last, in addition to show some typical examples of project for applying metadata all over the world, the writer focuses on introducing several such projects in the mainland of China.