> I can't make use of it if it's not available You also can't make use of data if it doesn't have appropriate metadata indicating how it can be used. Metadat

> I can't make use of it if it's not available You also can't make use of data if it doesn't have appropriate metadata indicating how it can be used. Metadata is more than just "good"- it's essential for actually being able to run an analysis. Take fMRI for example- someone could just throw a brain image up on the internet. In fact, one particularly uninformed individual (who possibly broke Virginia state law) did so here: https://github.com/dcunited001/mri-scans https://github.com/dcunited001/mri-scans However, the raw data is not useful without knowing what scan sequence was used, slice-timing order, etc. Some of this is encoded in the data itself (the example above uploaded DICOM, which has somewhat rich metadata, although by no means is it comprehensive enough), but other data that is necessary is not (Phillips in particular is somewhat infamous for doing non-standard things with their scanners that aren't recorded in the DICOM headers, and in general it's a Herculean task getting MRI vendors to agree on standards). You could try performing an analysis with contextless data, but you're likely just going to make really spotty conclusions. > I'm not in academia Why should that matter? The circumstances of data collection are also important for business intelligence data or financial modeling data. I'm certain that the lack of this also contributes to poorly formed conclusions that cause real hurt to businesses out there.