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What's a Meta?

meta (met´·uh) adj.

In computer science, meta is a common prefix that means "about." For example, metadata is data that describes other data (data about data). A metalanguage is a language used to describe other languages. A metafile is a file that contains other files.

The HTML META tag is used to describe the contents of a Web page. It is used by a number of search engines to identify the web page and purpose. It tells the engines the description of your site and the keywords that are relevant. This information helps search engines to determine your placement in their databases.

An HTML META tag used in the Head area of a document to specify further information about the document, either for the local server, or for a remote browser. The META element is used within the Head element to embed document meta-information not defined by other HTML elements. Such information can be extracted by servers/clients for use in identifying, indexing, and cataloging specialized document meta-information. In addition, HTTP servers can read the contents of the document head to generate response headers corresponding to any elements defining a value for the attribute HTTP-EQUIV. This provides document authors with a mechanism for identifying information that should be included in the response headers of an HTTP request.

As to "links," here are the verb and noun definitions found in Webster's dictionary:

Verb:
  1. To bind together.
  2. In programming, the term link refers to execution of a linker.
  3. To paste a copy of an object into a document in such a way that it retains its connection with the original object. Updates to the original object can be reflected in the duplicate by updating the link.
  4. In spreadsheet programs, linking refers to the ability of a worksheet to take its data for particular cells from another worksheet. Two or more files are thus linked by common cells.
Noun:
  1. In communications, a link is a line or channel over which data is transmitted.
  2. In data management systems, a link is a pointer to another record. You can connect one or more records by inserting links into them.
  3. In some operating systems (UNIX, for example), a link is a pointer to a file. Links make it possible to reference a file by several different names and to access a file without specifying a full path.
  4. In hypertext systems, such as the World Wide Web, a link is a reference to another document. Such links are sometimes called hot links because they take you to other document when you click on them.
We combined the two terms, hence, MetaLinks.com the derivation of the name of our company.
A real MetaSearch engine
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Last Updated: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 06:12:52 PM
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