SCORM Meta-data provides a standard framework and vocabulary for storing and communicating useful information about learning resources. Broadly speaking, meta-data is information about something that can be ascertained without actually examining it. For example, a card catalog entry for a library book tells you such things as who published the book, what language it is written in, and how many pages it has. Using the catalog you can figure all this out without going into the stacks to examine the book and counting the pages yourself.

Beyond simply providing data about things, the SCORM specifies how that information is stored and how it is represented. This greatly enhances the value of the information by making it broadly accessible.

Relating this to the classroom example, SCORM meta-data is like the library catalog system that a teacher might use to find instructional materials. One can easily and effectively search the collections of several libraries at once because information about holdings is compiled in a standard way and many catalog systems can communicate with one-another by speaking the same "language." If the book’s “meta-data” – the card catalog entry – were not based on standards, none of this would be possible.