Overview
ISO 23081-1:2017 - Information and documentation - Records management processes - Metadata for records - Part 1: Principles - defines the foundational principles that govern records management metadata. It establishes the purpose, scope and governance for metadata that support the creation, management, preservation and use of records across systems, processes and organizations. The standard is aligned with ISO 15489 (records management concepts and principles) and does not mandate a fixed metadata set; instead it provides a framework to assess and design metadata appropriate to organizational and jurisdictional needs.
Key topics
- Scope and principles for metadata applicable to records, processes, systems and organizations.
- Purpose and benefits of records management metadata (identification, authentication, context, accessibility, security).
- Types of metadata described (from the table of contents):
- Metadata about records (at capture and post-capture)
- Metadata supporting accessibility and security
- Metadata about business rules, policies and mandates
- Agent metadata (people, workgroups, software)
- Business process metadata
- Metadata about records management processes
- Management of metadata: policy definition, creation and maintenance, structures, storage, access and lifecycle points for capture.
- Roles and responsibilities for metadata governance and stewardship.
- Interoperability and relations to other metadata domains (preservation, discovery, rights management, e-business).
- Relationship with implementation guidance in ISO 23081-2 and ISO 23081-3.
Practical applications
ISO 23081-1 is used to:
- Design or assess metadata schemas and encoding schemes for recordkeeping systems.
- Define policies and governance for metadata capture, storage and access across business processes and IT systems.
- Support digital preservation, legal discovery, auditability and long‑term authenticity by ensuring appropriate metadata is created at defined lifecycle points.
- Map records metadata to other domain metadata (preservation, discovery, rights) to enable interoperability and system migrations.
- Guide cross-functional teams (records managers, archivists, IT architects, legal/compliance, business owners) in establishing metadata responsibilities and workflows.
Who should use it
- Records managers and archivists
- Information governance and compliance officers
- IT/system architects and software vendors (ERM/EDRMS, ECM, repositories)
- Digital preservation specialists and legal teams involved in e-discovery
Related standards
- ISO 15489-1 (Records management - Concepts and principles) - referenced normative basis.
- ISO 23081 parts 2 & 3 - provide implementation guidance and assessment tools.
Keywords: ISO 23081-1, records management metadata, metadata for records, ISO 15489, metadata schema, metadata governance, records capture, digital preservation.
