  Metals are found in all baryonic phases and environments, and our knowledge
of their distribution `in and around galaxies' has significantly improved over
the past few years. Theoretical work has shown that the fraction of metals in
different baryonic components can vary significantly when different feedback
schemes are adopted. Therefore, studies of element abundances provide important
information about all gas-dynamical processes which determine the cosmic
evolution of baryons. I give here a brief review of recent observational
progress, describe the implications of recent theoretical studies, and discuss
briefly future prospects.
