<s>
A	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
is	O
a	O
database	O
created	O
to	O
store	O
metadata	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
well-designed	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
typically	O
contains	O
data	O
far	O
beyond	O
simple	O
definitions	O
of	O
the	O
various	O
data	B-General_Concept
structures	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typical	O
repositories	O
store	O
dozens	O
to	O
hundreds	O
of	O
separate	O
pieces	O
of	O
information	O
about	O
each	O
data	B-General_Concept
structure	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
is	O
responsible	O
for	O
physically	O
storing	O
and	O
cataloging	O
metadata	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
in	O
a	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
should	O
be	O
generic	O
,	O
integrated	O
,	O
current	O
,	O
and	O
historical	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Generic	O
:	O
Meta	O
model	O
should	O
store	O
the	O
metadata	O
by	O
generic	O
terms	O
instead	O
of	O
storing	O
it	O
by	O
an	O
applications-specific	O
defined	O
way	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
if	O
your	O
data	O
base	O
standard	O
changes	O
from	O
one	O
product	O
to	O
another	O
the	O
physical	O
meta	O
model	O
of	O
the	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
would	O
not	O
need	O
to	O
change	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Integration	O
of	O
the	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
allows	O
all	O
business	O
areas	O
 '	O
metadata	O
to	O
be	O
in	O
an	O
integrated	O
fashion	O
:	O
Covering	O
all	O
domains	O
and	O
subject	O
areas	O
of	O
the	O
organization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
should	O
have	O
accessible	O
current	O
and	O
historical	O
metadata	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metadata	B-Application
repositories	I-Application
used	O
to	O
be	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
a	O
data	B-Application
dictionary	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
transition	O
of	O
needs	O
for	O
the	O
metadata	O
usage	O
for	O
business	O
intelligence	O
has	O
increased	O
so	O
is	O
the	O
scope	O
of	O
the	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
increased	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Earlier	O
data	B-Application
dictionaries	I-Application
are	O
the	O
closest	O
place	O
to	O
interact	O
technology	O
with	O
business	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-Application
dictionaries	I-Application
are	O
the	O
universe	O
of	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
in	O
the	O
initial	O
stages	O
but	O
as	O
the	O
scope	O
increased	O
Business	O
glossary	O
and	O
their	O
tags	O
to	O
variety	O
of	O
status	O
flags	O
emerged	O
in	O
the	O
business	O
side	O
while	O
consumption	O
of	O
the	O
technology	O
metadata	O
,	O
their	O
lineage	O
and	O
linkages	O
made	O
the	O
repository	O
,	O
the	O
source	O
for	O
valuable	O
reports	O
to	O
bring	O
business	O
and	O
technology	O
together	O
and	O
helped	O
data	O
management	O
decisions	O
easier	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
assess	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
the	O
changes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
explores	O
the	O
enterprise	O
wide	O
data	O
governance	O
,	O
data	O
quality	O
and	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
(	O
includes	O
master	O
data	O
and	O
reference	O
data	O
)	O
and	O
integrates	O
this	O
wealth	O
of	O
information	O
with	O
integrated	O
metadata	O
across	O
the	O
organization	O
to	O
provide	O
decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
system	I-Application
for	O
data	B-General_Concept
structures	I-General_Concept
,	O
even	O
though	O
it	O
only	O
reflects	O
the	O
structures	O
consumed	O
from	O
various	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
not	O
only	O
stores	O
metadata	O
like	O
Metadata	O
registry	O
but	O
also	O
adds	O
relationships	O
with	O
related	O
metadata	O
types	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
providing	O
the	O
relationships	O
to	O
all	O
the	O
metadata	O
points	O
across	O
the	O
organization	O
and	O
maintaining	O
its	O
integrity	O
with	O
an	O
architecture	O
to	O
handle	O
the	O
changes	O
,	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
provides	O
the	O
basic	O
material	O
for	O
understanding	O
the	O
complete	O
data	O
flow	O
and	O
their	O
definitions	O
and	O
their	O
impact	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
sources	O
metadata	O
from	O
various	O
metadata	O
systems	O
in	O
the	O
organizations	O
and	O
reflects	O
what	O
is	O
in	O
the	O
upstream	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
enables	O
all	O
the	O
structure	O
of	O
the	O
organizations	O
data	O
containers	O
to	O
one	O
integrated	O
place	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Usually	O
business	O
spends	O
much	O
time	O
and	O
money	O
to	O
make	O
decisions	O
based	O
on	O
discovery	O
and	O
research	O
on	O
impacts	O
to	O
make	O
changes	O
or	O
to	O
add	O
new	O
data	B-General_Concept
structures	I-General_Concept
or	O
remove	O
structures	O
in	O
data	O
management	O
of	O
the	O
organization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
a	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
can	O
be	O
designed	O
to	O
store	O
the	O
metadata	O
components	O
from	O
all	O
of	O
these	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metadata	B-Application
repositories	I-Application
should	O
store	O
metadata	O
in	O
four	O
classifications	O
:	O
ownership	O
,	O
descriptive	O
characteristics	O
,	O
rules	O
and	O
policies	O
,	O
and	O
physical	O
characteristics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
building	O
a	O
logical	B-Application
data	I-Application
model	I-Application
for	O
creating	O
a	O
database	O
,	O
a	O
logical	O
meta	O
model	O
can	O
help	O
identify	O
the	O
metadata	O
requirements	O
for	O
business	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
will	O
be	O
centralized	O
,	O
decentralized	O
,	O
or	O
distributed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
centralized	O
design	O
means	O
that	O
there	O
is	O
one	O
database	O
for	O
the	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
that	O
stores	O
metadata	O
for	O
all	O
applications	O
business	O
wide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
centralized	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
has	O
the	O
same	O
advantages	O
and	O
disadvantages	O
of	O
a	O
centralized	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
decentralized	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
stores	O
metadata	O
in	O
multiple	O
databases	O
,	O
either	O
separated	O
by	O
location	O
and	O
or	O
departments	O
of	O
the	O
business	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
makes	O
management	O
of	O
the	O
repository	O
more	O
involved	O
than	O
a	O
centralized	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
,	O
but	O
the	O
advantage	O
is	O
that	O
the	O
metadata	O
can	O
be	O
broken	O
down	O
into	O
individual	O
departments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
distributed	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
uses	O
a	O
decentralized	O
method	O
,	O
but	O
unlike	O
a	O
decentralized	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
the	O
metadata	O
remains	O
in	O
its	O
original	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
XML	B-Protocol
gateway	O
is	O
created	O
that	O
acts	O
as	O
a	O
directory	O
for	O
accessing	O
the	O
metadata	O
within	O
each	O
different	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
advantages	O
and	O
disadvantages	O
for	O
a	O
distributed	O
metadata	B-Application
repository	I-Application
mirror	O
that	O
of	O
a	O
distributed	B-Operating_System
database	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-Application
Dictionary	I-Application
:	O
contains	O
information	O
from	O
data	O
model	O
tools	O
for	O
the	O
definition	O
of	O
metadata	O
elements	O
and	O
their	O
technical	O
definitions	O
provided	O
by	O
data	O
or	O
enterprise	O
architecture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metadata	B-Application
repositories	I-Application
can	O
be	O
designed	O
as	O
either	O
an	O
Entity-relationship	B-Architecture
model	I-Architecture
,	O
or	O
an	O
Object-oriented	B-Application
design	I-Application
.	O
</s>
