The metadata attributes that a user can specify for an object, except for name, description, and tags, are grouped in a metadata profile. Metadata attributes have a name and a data type (like text line or date) and may be structured in groups within a profile. For most of the existing object types in BSCW there are predefined system profiles. Examples are the following metadata profiles.
•Documents have the attributes of the 'Dublin Core Metadata Element Set' (title, author, language, etc.) in addition to general attributes such as priority and category.
•Contacts essentially consist of metadata attributes that pertain to names, address, phone numbers, organization, and so on.
•By default, tasks have the attributes Customer, Contact, Location, URL, Priority and Category
The system profiles of object types may initially also be empty, as e.g. for folder and URL. Number and type of system profiles depend on the configuration of your BSCW server. You may create your own metadata profiles based on the given system profiles and save them for further use in your personal folder 'Personaltemplates from your-username'. It is also possible to define metadata profiles for a specific workspace and save them in a template folder of this workspace. This way they are available for all members of this workspace.