Metadata Element Set
Metadata Element Set – Detailed Descriptions
*Based on the South Carolina Digital Library (SCDL) Metadata Schema & Guidelines – with permission. http://scmemory.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/SCDL-Metadata-Schema-amp-Guidelines.pdf
Metadata Elements: Dublin Core
Required fields: title, subject, description, date, rights, type.
Optional fields: creator, coverage, language.
Title
Status: Required
Controlled Vocabulary: No
Notes: Title of the resource.Remove all leading articles. For example: The, A, An. If no title, title supplied by cataloger, but do not put title in brackets.
Example: Letter from Thomas Baker to Peter Davison, 1984.
Subject
Status: Required
Controlled Vocabulary: Yes – LCSH http://authorities.loc.gov/ or AAT http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/aat/
Notes: Separate multiple entries with a semicolon only (no spaces before or after the semicolon). Notice that there are no spaces between LCSH subjects and the double dashes. Please remove any periods included at the end of a subject heading.
Example: Cthulhu (Fictitious character)–Fiction;Horror fiction, English
Description
Status: Required
Controlled Vocabulary: No
Notes: A free text summary account of the intellectual content of the original item. Field content can be quoted from item itself, or composed by metadata creator. This field is searchable, so when inputting, think of audience and terminology they would likely use. Transcriptions of text documents or OCR text can be included in the description field.
Example: Black and white photograph of an unidentified man standing in front of the Cuyahoga River at midday.
Date
Status: Required
Controlled Vocabulary: Yes – ISO 8601 formatting is required.
ISO 8601 formatting examples: YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY-MM or YYYY
Notes: This is the date the physical item was created. Do not use the terms “circa” or “c.” or “ca.” If you are unsure, please leave the field blank. If the date is unknown, please do not use the term “unknown”, just leave the field blank. For materials that have multiple dates, separate multiple entries with a semicolon.
Example:
Year: YYYY (“1791” for the year 1791)
Year and month: YYYY-MM (“1791-01” for January 1791)
Complete date: YYYY-MM-DD (“1791-01-10” for January 10, 1791)
Rights
Status: Required
Controlled Vocabulary: No
Notes: This is a statement about the permission status of an item in the collection. If you obtained permission from an archives, they will sometimes require you to use specific attribution language. In this case, place that language below. Otherwise, identify that it was used with permission of x institution.
Example: Used with permission from the Gregg-Graniteville Archives.
Type
Status: Required
Controlled Vocabulary: Yes – DCMI Type Vocabulary:
Text
Still Image
Physical Object
Sound
Moving Image
Notes: Each record will have only one type. Follow DCMI Type Vocabulary.
Example: Still Image
Creator
Status: Recommended
Controlled Vocabulary: Yes – When available use Library of Congress Name Authority Files (NAF) http://authorities.loc.gov/, otherwise following formatting guidelines below.
Notes: Refers to the entity responsible for the intellectual content of the item. Separate multiple entries with a semicolon. Entry ideally is formatted like this: Last Name, First name, YYYY-YYYY. If dates are unavailable, please omit. Enter corporates names in full direct form. If creator is unknown, please do not use the term “unknown,” just leave the field blank.
Example: Pertwee, John, 1919-1996
Coverage
Status: Recommended
Controlled Vocabulary: No
Notes: Coverage refers to the extent or scope of the content of the resource. Coverage will typically include spatial location (a place name or geographic coordinates), temporal period (a period label, date, or date range) or jurisdiction (such as a named administrative entity). Where appropriate, named places or time periods should be used in preference to numeric identifiers such as sets of coordinates or date ranges.
Example:
1870-1872
Boston, MA
17th century
Civil War
Language
Status: Recommended
Controlled Vocabulary: No
Notes: Separate multiple entries with a semicolon. Spell out the language, e.g. Spanish. Please note that the language entries begin with a capital letter and are singular. List the most prominent language first.
Example: Spanish;English
