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10 Knowledge/CTO Academy/Data/Data Catalog.md

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+**MD file:** `Data Catalog.md`  
+**Estimated reading time:** 10–12 minutes
+
+# Data Catalog
+
+## Definition
+
+A **Data Catalog** is a searchable inventory of an organization's data assets and their [[Metadata]].
+
+It helps people discover what data exists, what it means, where it comes from, who owns it, and whether it is trusted.
+
+## Simple Mental Model
+
+> **A Data Catalog is Google for your organization's data.**
+
+## How It Works
+
+A Data Catalog may inventory:
+
+- Databases
+- Tables
+- Columns
+- Files
+- Dashboards
+- Reports
+- Metrics
+- Models
+- Pipelines
+- APIs
+
+An entry might show owner, status, description, grain, source, refresh, quality, and downstream use.
+
+## Example
+
+Search:
+
+`Revenue`
+
+Results:
+
+```text
+Net Advertising Revenue [Certified]
+Subscription Revenue [Certified]
+Gross Advertising Revenue
+Revenue Forecast [Restricted]
+```
+
+Each result includes an owner and business definition.
+
+## How It Fits Into the Bigger Picture
+
+```text
+[[Metadata]]
+     ↓
+Collected and organized in
+     ↓
+[[Data Catalog]]
+     ↓
+Datasets + Metrics + Reports + Owners
+```
+
+The catalog may surface [[Data Lineage]], [[Data Quality]], [[Business Glossary]], [[Data Owner]], and [[Data Steward]] information.
+
+## My Company / Real-World Context
+
+A new employee should be able to search `Video Completion Rate` and see its definition, owner, dataset, source system, refresh, and dashboards that use it.
+
+## CTO Perspective
+
+Buying a catalog tool does not create governance. A catalog full of stale descriptions is only expensive documentation.
+
+The hard part is the operating model: who maintains it, who certifies assets, what "trusted" means, and how deprecation works.
+
+### Questions to Ask
+
+- Can employees discover trusted data without knowing who created it?
+- How do we mark certified vs experimental datasets?
+- Who maintains catalog entries?
+- Does the catalog show [[Data Lineage]]?
+- Does it expose [[Data Quality]] status?
+- Are people actually using it?
+
+## Meeting Scenario
+
+**Situation:** Someone proposes an expensive enterprise Data Catalog because "every mature organization needs one."
+
+**Possible response:**
+
+> "Before selecting a platform, let's define the problem. Are we struggling with discoverability, ownership, duplicated datasets, lineage, business definitions, or all of these? Then we can determine the lightest solution that meets the need."
+
+## Key Takeaways
+
+- A Data Catalog is a searchable inventory of data assets and metadata.
+- It supports discoverability, self-service, and governance.
+- A tool alone does not create governance.
+- Operating model and adoption matter more than the interface.
+
+## Related Concepts
+
+- [[Metadata]]
+- [[Data Governance]]
+- [[Data Lineage]]
+- [[Data Quality]]
+- [[Business Glossary]]
+- [[Data Owner]]
+- [[Data Steward]]