Understanding Managed Metadata in SharePoint 2013 | Blogging Thoughts on SharePoint and Office 365

In a short article titled Overview of managed metadata in SharePoint Server 2013, the Microsoft® TechNet website positions the process of managing metadata within the context of SharePoint Server 2013.

It may be helpful to present some of the rationale for implementing a procedure to manage metadata, the Term Store, and a taxonomy for SharePoint Server 2013 or for SharePoint Online. These points are not covered in the short post on TechNet.

“Managed metadata is a hierarchical collection of centrally managed terms that you can define, and then use as attributes for items in SharePoint Server 2013.” So by enclosing specific items within “centrally managed terms” it is an easier process to identify, parse, and collect specific items into a searchable index. Searching SharePoint for specific information becomes an easier procedure when managed metadata has been implemented. This procedure provides a structure for otherwise unstructured data
The concepts of “Terms and term sets”, including the definitions of “local” and “global” term sets, are the same in this post as in previous presentation about managed metadata for SharePoint Server 2010
Ditto for the definitions of “Managed terms, enterprise keywords and the term store”
Ditto for the remainder of the features presented in this post

We found little to differentiate the managed metadata feature of SharePoint Server 2013 from the same feature in SharePoint Server 2010. For a reader unfamiliar with how the same concepts were presented for SharePoint Server 2010, please read Managed metadata overview (SharePoint Server 2010).

Nevertheless, we think managed metadata, the term store and taxonomy are very high value added features for implementations of any version of SharePoint Server, from 2007 to 2013. So it is definitely worth the time to review this short post and a number of related posts. As we unearth additional information about the true differences between the same feature for SharePoint Server 2010 and 2013, we will publish them to this blog.

Ira Michael Blonder