This paper introduces metadata issues in the framework of the WICRI project, a network of semantic wikis for communities in research and innovation. A wiki can be related to an institution, to a research field (mainly, environment or ICT at this time), or to a regional entity. Metadata and semantic items play the strategic role to handle the quality and the consistency of the network. An important point deals with the “wiki way of working” in which a metadata specialist and a scientist, familiar with abstract formalisms, can work altogether, at the same time, on the same pages. Some first experiments of designing metadata are presented. A wiki, encyclopedia of metadata, is proposed, and related technical issues are discussed.