An information handling apparatus in which textual metadata is generated in respect of a current information item in an ensemble of information items including: a mechanism that detects one or more predetermined properties of the current information item; a mechanism that detects a subset of information items from the ensemble of information items the subset being those which have the one or more predetermined properties most similar to those of the current information item; and a mechanism that selects one or more most frequently occurring words and/or phrases within textual metadata associated with the subset of information items, for use in textual metadata to be associated with the current information item.