Which of the following is NOT a type of metadata?

• A. Descriptive
• B. Structural
• C. Administrative
• D. Operational

Answer: (D)

Metadata helps organize and manage digital resources by describing different aspects. Descriptive metadata covers identifying information like title, author, subjects, and a summary so people can discover the item. Structural metadata describes how the resource is put together—how pages, chapters, or files relate to each other, and the arrangement within containers. Administrative metadata includes information needed to manage the resource over time, such as ownership, rights, access permissions, creation date, and preservation actions. Operational metadata isn't one of the standard resource-description categories; it may appear in some systems to support the operation of the repository (for example, logs, technical environment, or checksums), but it doesn't describe the resource itself. Because of that, the option representing operational metadata is not a metadata type used to describe the resource, making it the correct answer.