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Metadata is descriptive information about data, which can be used to manage, locate or retrieve information. Although tabular presentations of metadata can be extremely useful, the exploitation of such information may be improved by visualisation. There are a number of information visualisation interfaces available, and many of these utilise metadata. However, on the whole, these approaches have not been objectively evaluated, and there is little information about their validity and reliability. This study analyses some of these techniques, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses, and the areas where further research is required. A study is proposed, in which a simple interface will empirically assess the efficacy of a metadata visualisation technique