Abstract: Techniques used in database systems for dealing with metadata associated with multimedia objects. The database system includes a generic representation for metadata values. The representation includes a stratum specifier that specifies the stratum to which a metadata value applies, an extent specifier that specifies a portion of the stratum to which the metadata value applies, and a metadata item specifier that specifies the metadata value. The generic representation is implemented in an object-oriented relational database system. The generic representation of the metadata for a given multimedia object is contained in the object in the database that represents the multimedia object. Values of the representation may be returned by a query or may be used to select other values to be returned by a query, including the portion of an object associated with a metadata value.