If the term data or data has long been part of the vocabulary of performing professionals living, it is uneven and often with a great deal of misunderstanding about its issues.
Find out in this sheet what data and metadata are in the cultural context, and their challenges applied to the field of live entertainment
Data is raw information - "defined and isolable," "constructed based on rules or categories"¹ - that serves as the starting point for research and, once processed and interpreted, enables us to create meaning and gain knowledge.
This data - which may be a fact, a digital symbol, a reference, a date, or a name - can exist in a digital form (i.e. readable by a computer) or not.
When applied to the cultural sector, data can take the form of a first name, a date, a phone number, a spectator's gender, the name of a performance, and so on.
Additionally, data can be public or private.
Data is commonly understood as the raw material produced through the abstraction of the world into categories, measurements, and other forms of representation - numbers, characters, symbols, images, sounds, electromagnetic waves, bits - which form the foundation upon which information and knowledge are built.
Rob Kitchin,
Raw data is verified and processed in order to give it meaning. The result of this analysis becomes information. Once placed within a specific context, this information becomes knowledge, from which skills can then emerge.
In all cases, data forms the foundation of this entire process.
Rights reserved: Joël Gombin, Datactivist
Metadata, finally, refers to data that describes another piece of data. Metadata provides context or instructions on how to interpret or process the data. Using the example of a book, we could say that metadata includes the bibliographic references (title, format, publication date, author, summary), while the data is the content of the book itself. In this case, metadata summarises information about the data, making it easier - just like a bibliography - to locate and manage. This is why metadata plays a crucial role in the development of many digital solutions.
Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise facilitates the retrieval, use, or management of an information resource. Metadata is often referred to as data about data, or information about information.
National Information Standards Organization
Data has become a central element of contemporary human societies, as nearly every aspect of our private and professional lives is now digitally managed, generating vast quantities of data with every action we take. This phenomenon, closely tied to the explosive development of computing technologies, is known as the datafication of society (see the dedicated sheet on the societal issues surrounding data).
In such a context, metadata functions as the universal language used by computer systems. This information is therefore critical to the organisation and use of data. As a result, metadata is just as important as the data it describes.
Datafication refers to something different from digitisation, which consists in converting analogue content - a text, film, or photograph - into a sequence of 1s and 0s readable by a computer.
Datafication refers to a much broader process, with implications that are still largely unknown: not just digitising documents, but turning every aspect of life into data.
Kenneth Cukier & Viktor Mayer-Schönberger,
In 2019, the Québec chapter of the Internet Society, ISOC Québec, published a study on cultural usage data in the digital age¹. The study was intended to inform a commission on "the issues and challenges related to the access, use, and governance of data" in a web environment dominated by major platforms.
Based on a literature review and synthesis of available knowledge, the authors of the study identify three main categories of data: descriptive data, usage data, and data resulting from the combination of the two.
Rights reserved: In "Données d'usage et usage des données à l'ère des plateformes, de la nécessité d'un encadrement réglementaire pour une meilleure affirmation de notre souveraineté numérique", ISOC Québec, 2019
Descriptive data refers to the data used to catalogue information about a cultural object. These data can be quite diverse in nature: descriptive (name, author, title...), legal, geographical, administrative (e.g. retention period), or technical (e.g. medium, format...).
In order to be usable across different entities - whether between departments or across countries - descriptive data must align with common standards (see related sheet on this topic).
Usage data, on the other hand, relates to the person using or consuming the cultural content. It concerns the way the work is used and how the individual interacts with it. These data are again highly varied and may include:
Rights reserved: Visuel issu d'une présentation de Synapse C - février 2022
According to the same ISOC study, combining descriptive and usage data, when done properly, makes it possible "to analyse cultural consumption, improve audience understanding, and interpret the relationship to content." Descriptive data provides the context for interacting with the content (for example: the performance, workshop, or lecture), while usage data characterises how the content is actually used.
This is why data gains far more value when these two types are combined, and why the level of detail in descriptive data directly affects our ability to explain choices and identify recurring behaviours.
The study also highlights the essential role of metadata in enabling connections between different databases, and in establishing links between "the qualification of a work or content and the contextual determinants" influencing an individual's engagement with that content.
According to Synapse C, a Québec-based nonprofit specialising in supporting data literacy for cultural professionals, "the ultimate purpose of data is to produce rich information that allows you to understand your audience and then reach them with the most accurate description of your cultural offering. Any discoverability initiative should therefore begin with an assessment of the available data and its quality."
Explore the topic through four main sections dedicated to the performing arts, from understanding key issues to strategic management.
This section helps you grasp how the performing arts sector is evolving in an increasingly data-driven world. Explore the sector's challenges and practices in data use, and discover why data is essential to your marketing strategies.
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Learn the fundamentals of data use in the performing arts. This section covers key concepts such as data regulations and how to use data from your ticketing system to better target your audience.
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To take things further, this section provides practical tools to implement advertising, audience targeting, and SEO techniques. Master the methods that will help you fully leverage data to optimize your online presence.
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Learn how to design and manage data-driven strategies. Discover how to define projects, oversee the rollout of tools, and articulate your needs for effective data management.
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For over 10 years, TMNlab has been supporting a French-speaking learning community of performing arts professionals to foster and promote a responsible digital culture. Want to learn more or contribute to this platform? Get in touch with us.
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