Why Metadata Matters

Using this example from the JSTOR database, Equilibrium in the Jungle:

The metadata describes the object image,  title,  authors, object type, object’s tags, publisher, and abstract. The metadata of this object does not describe the location or when it was originally published. It allows me to ask why this item was digitized, what was its importance?

I believe that metadata is important because it gives the user more information about an object. They can then use it for various reasons, i.e. academic, personal, etc. The JSTOR example references some of the standard metadata fields but I would like to be able to have more data and other ways of viewing the image.