Metadata Input Guidelines: Title
PAGE CONTENTS 16 minute read.
Element Name
Title
Definition
The name given to the resource.
Where Can the Title Information be Found?
Item Type | Information Sources |
---|---|
For text |
|
For images |
|
For maps |
|
For music scores |
|
For videos |
|
For sound files |
|
For computer files |
|
In some cases the title may come from accompanying or supplementary information.\
How Title Works in the Metadata Form
- Parts:
- 1. Title qualifier – drop-down menu
- 2. Title – text field
- Repeatable?
- Yes - to include multiple titles, click ‘Add’ to repeat all field parts
- Required?
- Yes - a Main Title is required
- Also see more information about required fields
How Should the Title be Filled in?
General Title Rules
- Every record must have a Main Title, also called an “official title”
- Some records may have multiple titles (see below, under “Special Titles” for more clarification about when to use other titles)
- For each title, be sure to choose the appropriate qualifier from the controlled vocabulary
Guideline | Example |
---|---|
|
Reminiscences of the Terry Rangers
|
|
Difficulties of a Mexican revenue officer in Texas
|
(An alternate title can be added if the numbers are important to the title) |
Title: Laws of the Republic of Texas, in two volumes. Volume 1 Note: "Vol. I." Two Ladies in Beauty Shop |
(An alternate title with the abbreviations may be added, or a display note for common abbreviations such as "vol.") |
Main: Documents pertaining to the case of Eliza Miller vs. Texas & New Orleans Railroad Company, cause no. 547, 1902 Alternate: Documents pertaining to the case of Eliza Miller vs. T & NORR Co. |
|
Deaf Smith County Schools: 1893-2003
|
|
Remains of Judge Baylor Re-Interred, Now Rests in Soil of Baylor Campus at Belton: Impressive Ceremonies Participated In by Leading Baptists of State. Houston Relatives Were in Attendance
|
|
[Photograph of Ronald D. Smith] [Portrait of Susan R. Theodore] [Obituary for l. M. Cummings] |
If there is no title:
|
[Calf-Roping in Groups at Cowtown Coliseum] [Bus Transfer Ticket #020137] [Certificate of Appointment of K.K. Legett as Delegate] |
For some materials, we often use a standardized format, e.g.:
|
[Letter from John C. Brewer to Emma Davis - April 21, 1879] Documents pertaining to the case of Garner Williams & Co. vs. J. E. Ennis, cause no. 507, 1867 [Clipping: Forced Sale!] [Funeral Program for Cottrell Brackett, Jr., October 10, 2012] [Invoice for Cooking Materials, May 18, 1894] |
Standardized formats may be adjusted as needed to appropriately fit the item, e.g.:
|
[Letter from Betty Scrivner to her Mother] [Correspondence Concerning a Marriage License] [Front Page of 'The Washington Blade', August 4, 2000] [Newspaper Clippings About Dr. May Owen and a TMA Meeting] |
Special Titles
Does the item need multiple titles?
If... | Add: |
---|---|
|
an alternate title
|
|
a parallel title |
(for example, different titles on the title page, cover, and/or spine of a book) |
an added title
|
(multiple issues published under the same title including yearbooks, journals, magazines, etc.)
|
a serial title an added title (for the title on the title page) a sort title |
(items or objects with different titles that are related to one another) |
a series title
|
|
a series title
|
(e.g., music pieces, Shakespeare's works, some serials) |
a uniform title
|
Guideline | Example |
---|---|
If the item is part of a serial
If the serial has had multiple titles over the full run
If the serial has a title that will sort alphabetically instead of numerically/chronologically
|
Main: Prickly Pear, Yearbook of Abilene Christian College, 1945 Serial: Prickly Pear Added: The 1945 Prickly Pear Main: Experiment Station Record, Volume 1, September 1889-July 1890 Serial: Experiment Station Record Main: Chemical Literature, Volume 27, Number 1, Spring 1975 Serial: Chemical Literature Note: Later volumes of this journal (Volume 27, Number 2 to present) are published under the title 'Chemical Information Bulletin'. Main: Chemical Information Bulletin, Volume 27, Number 2, Fall 1975 Serial: Chemical Information Bulletin Note: Earlier volumes of this journal (Volume 1, Number 1 through Volume 27, Number 1) were published under the title 'Chemical Literature'. Main: Retrospect, Summer 2013 Serial: Retrospect Sort: Retrospect 2013-22 Main: The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, Fourth Congress, Second Session Serial: The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States Sort: Annals of Congress, Congress 4, Session 2 |
If the item is part of a series or part of a sub-collection*
|
Main: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Front Cover Series: Things in and about San Antonio Main: [Glass with a picture of an oil well] Series: Commemorative glasses |
If the item is in a foreign language
|
Main: Estado libre de Coahuila y Tejas Parallel: [Free State of Coahuila and Texas] Main: The Mexican Soldier, 1837-1847 Parallel: El Soldado Mexicano, 1837-1847 |
If the item title has abbreviations, acronyms or alternate spellings
|
Main: Documents pertaining to the case of Eliza Miller vs. Texas and New Orleans Railroad Company, cause no. 547, 1902 Alternate: Documents pertaining to the case of Eliza Miller vs. T & NORR Co. Main: FCC Record, Volume 12, No. 20, Pages 11370 to 11956, July 28-August 8, 1997 Alternate: Federal Communications Commission Record, Volume 12, No. 20, Pages 11370 to 11956, July 28-August 8, 1997 |
If a published item has multiple titles
|
Main: A Memorial and Biographical History of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon Counties, Texas Added: The Lone Star State Main: Visiting people on a dairy farm. Added: Cut out your own cow. Main: [Maps of Canada] Added: Quebec Added: Ontario |
If the same item has been published under multiple titles
|
Main: Six suites for violoncello solo Uniform: Suites, violoncello, BMV 1007-1012 Main: 1980 census of population and housing. Census tracts. Abilene, Tex., standard metropolitan statistical area. Uniform: Census of population and housing (1980). Census tracts. |
*In The Portal to Texas History and the UNT Digital Library, serial and series titles show up as a facet used for narrowing search results, so adding a series title is one way to create a subset or grouping of items within an established collection. Also see Serials and Series for more information.
Other Examples
- City directory
- Main: Morrison & Fourmy’s General Directory of the City of Austin, 1893-94
- Government publication
- Main: Depository libraries: hearings before the Subcommittee on the Library of the Committee on Rules and Administration, United States Senate, Eighty-seventh Congress, second session, on S. 2029 and H. R. 8141, to revise the laws relating to depository libraries. March 15 and 16, 1962.
- Untitled photograph
- Main: [Look-out Tower at Fort Davis]
- Magazine
- Main: StarDate, Volume 39, Number 3, May/June 2011
- Serial: StarDate
- Military training materials
- Main: Moisture and Clouds
- Added: Programed Text AM-26, June 1971
- Musical Score in French
- Main: Nouvelles Poesies Morales sur Les Plus Beaux Airs de la Musique Francoise et Italienne avec la Basse.: Fables Choisies Dans le gout de M. De La Fontaine, Sur des Vaudevilles & petits Airs aisés à chanter, avec leur Basse & une Basse en Musette. Recueil I. 6 liv. broché.
- Parallel: [New Moral Poems based on the Most Beautiful Songs of the French and Italian Music, with Bass: Fables Chosen according to the taste of M. De La Fontaine, based on Vaudevilles & little Airs to be sung, with [Basso continuo].]
- Added: Nouvelles Poesies Spirituelles et Morales Sur Les Plus Beaux Airs de la Musique Francoise et Italienne, Avec la Basse. Recueil II.
- Added: Nouvelles Poesies Morales sur Les Plus Beaux Airs de la Musique Francoise et Italienne avec la Basse. Recueil III.
- Added: Nouvelles Poesies Morales sur Les Plus Beaux Airs de la Musique Francoise et Italienne avec la Basse. Recueil IV.
- Added: Nouvelles Poesies Morales sur Les Plus Beaux Airs de la Musique Francoise et Italienne avec la Basse. Recueil V.
- Added: Nouvelles Poesies Morales sur Les Plus Beaux Airs de la Musique Francoise et Italienne avec la Basse. Recueil VI.
- Added: Nouvelles Poesies Morales sur Les Plus Beaux Airs de la Musique Francoise et Italienne avec la Basse. Recueil VII.
- World War II newsmap
- Main: Newsmap. Monday, June 14, 1943: week of June 3 to June 10, 196th week of the war, 78th week of U.S. participation
- Added: The Making of a U.S. Bluejacket.
- Hand-carved cross
- Main: [Wooden Cross]
- US Geological Survey map
- Main: Map of the Woodbine Artesian Reservoirs of the Black and Grand Prairies of Texas including the Eastern and Western Cross Timbers
- Letter
- Main: [Letter from Jose Maria Viesca to Lorenzo de Zavala, April 14, 1828]
- Yearbook
- Main: The Swarm, Yearbook of Howard Payne University, 2005
- Serial: The Swarm
- Added: Building the Future, Howard Payne University 2005 Swarm, Volume 94, Brownwood, Texas
- Legislative Journal
- Main: Journal of the House of Representatives of the Regular Session, Volume 2, and First Called Session of the Fifty-Ninth Legislature
- Serial: Journal of the House of Representatives, Texas Legislature
- Uniform: Journal of the House of Representatives of the…session of the…Legislature of Texas.
- Series: 59th Legislature of Texas
- Sort: Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Texas, Legislature 59, Regular Session, Volume 2
- Added: Journal of the House of Representatives of the Regular Session of the Fifty-Ninth Legislature of the State of Texas, Volume 2
- Added: Journal of the House of Representatives of the First Called Session of the Fifty-Ninth Legislature of the State of Texas
- Plat Map
- Main: K. K. Legett’s Subdivision of Lot Number 4 & a Part of Lot Number 5 of the Benjamin Austin Survey Number 92, Taylor County, Texas
- Alternate: K. K. Legett’s Subdivision of Lot No. 4 & a Part of Lot No. 5 of the Benj. Austin Sur. No. 92, Taylor Co., Texas
- Technical Report
- Main: Fuel Cycle Program Progress Report: Eleventh Quarter, January-March 1963
- Added: Fuel Cycle Program. A Boiling Water Reactor Research and Development Program: Eleventh Quarterly Progress Report, January-March, 1963
- Serial: Fuel Cycle Program Progress Report
- Sort: Fuel Cycle Program Progress Report, Quarter 11, 1963
- Series: AEC research and development report
- Series: Atomic Energy Commission Reports
- Series: General Electric Company Atomic Power Reports
- Added: General Electric Atomic Power Equipment Department Report GEAP-4215
Comments
Glossary of title types:
Code | Type | Definition |
---|---|---|
officialtitle | Main Title | The most appropriate title to represent the individual item |
alternatetitle | Alternate Title | Reflects alternate spellings, terms, or omissions (including abbreviations, acronyms, and enumerations) |
paralleltitle | Parallel Title | Used for items written in foreign languages or translations from a second language |
serialtitle | Serial Title | Represents an entire serial publication |
seriestitle | Series Title | Represents an entire series of separate but related items |
uniformtitle | Uniform Title | Used when an item has been published under different titles |
addedtitle | Added Title | Reflects additional titles or significant subsections |
Resources
- UNT Title Qualifier Controlled Vocabulary
- OCLC Worldcat
- Worldcat via FirstSearch database (Requires UNT authentication)
More Guidelines: