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University Libraries

Quick-Start Metadata Guide

PAGE CONTENTS 26 min read.

Introduction

If you’re new to metadata or to the UNT Libraries (UNTL) system, this document gives a brief overview of the guidelines for records in the UNT Libraries’ Digital Collections. This introduction covers only the most basic information about formatting while the full guidelines give in-depth instructions and examples to cover any names, places, etc. that do not fit the general rules. To see the full guidelines, click here. Additionally, links within the overview connect to more specific portions of the guidelines.

Title

This field is required.

General Information

  • All items must have a “Main Title” although some items will have additional kinds of titles
  • Write out the title as it appears on the item or in accompanying information
  • If the item does not have a title, create a short, descriptive title in brackets
  • It is preferred that titles are more descriptive than just a proper name
  • Examples:

Book

Reminiscences of the Terry Rangers

Photograph

[Calf-Roping in Groups at Cowtown Coliseum]

Newspaper clipping

[Obituary for I. M. Cummings]

Additional Information

Creator

This field is optional – if the creator is unknown, leave it blank.

General Information

  • Only specific individuals or organizations should be included as creators
  • Include as many creators as you need to, in order of importance (or the order that they appear in on the item)
    • Only list persons or agencies once per record, even if they have multiple roles (a creator is not also listed as a contributor)
  • Personal names should be inverted (Last, First Middle)
    • Suffixes (Jr., Sr., etc.) can be added at the end but titles (Dr., Rev., Mr., etc.) should be left off unless it is required to accurately represent the person
  • Organization names should be written out as they appear
  • Hierarchical organizations and government agencies should be written from the highest level to the lowest
  • Examples:

Personal name

Blackburn, J. K. P.

Personal name requiring a title

Morris, Mrs. Harry Joseph

Personal name with a suffix

Roberts, Frank H. H., Jr.

Organization name

R. L. Polk & Co.

Government agency

Texas. Adjutant General's Office.
  • If you include a creator, you must choose a type (person or organization) and a role from the drop-down menus
  • Optionally, you can include alternate names or information about the creator that is directly related to the item in the “Information” text field

Additional Information

Contributor

This field is optional – if there are no contributors or the contributors are unknown, leave it blank.

General Information

  • Only specific individuals or organizations should be included as contributors
  • Include as many contributors as you need to, in order of importance (or the order that they appear in on the item)
    • Only list persons or agencies once per record, even if they have multiple roles (a contributor is not also listed as a creator)
  • Personal names should be inverted (Last, First Middle)
    • Suffixes (Jr., Sr., etc.) can be added at the end but titles (Dr., Rev., Mr., etc.) should be left off unless it is required to accurately represent the person
  • Organization names should be written out as they appear
  • Hierarchical organizations and government agencies should be written from the highest level to the lowest
  • Examples:

Personal name

Sonneck, Oscar George Theodore

Personal name requiring a title

Hastings, Mrs. F. S.

Personal name with a suffix

Roberts, Frank H. H., Jr.

Organization

Julius Bien & Co.

Government agency

United States. Navy. Training Division. Bureau of Aeronautics.
  • If you include a contributor, you must choose a type (person or organization) and a role from the drop-down menus
  • Optionally, you can include alternate names or information about the contributor that is directly related to the item in the “Information” text field

Additional Information

Publisher

This field is optional – if there is no publisher or the publisher is unknown, leave it blank.

General Information

  • You can include multiple publishers, but consider whether additional publishers should actually be contributors
  • Creators who are also publishers can be included in both fields
  • Individual names should not be inverted (First Middle Last)
  • Organization names should be written out as they appear
  • Hierarchical organizations and government agencies should be written from the highest level to the lowest
  • Examples:

Personal name

Roberta Wright Rylander

Organization

Lewis Publishing Company

Government agency

United States. Department of Agriculture.
  • If known, include the location where the item was published (e.g., Austin, Texas)
  • Optionally, you can include alternate names or information about the publisher that is directly related to the item in the “Information” text field

Additional Information

Date

This field is optional – if the creation date is unknown, leave it blank.

General Information

  • Creation dates always refer to the exact object that was digitized
  • Dates use the form YYYY-MM-DD including a year and any additional parts that are known (i.e., YYYY or YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD)
  • A date range can be created by separating dates with a slash: YYYY-MM-DD/YYYY-MM-DD
  • If the date is uncertain a question mark can be added to the end: YYYY-MM-DD?
  • Use a “u” to stand in for unknown digit(s): YYYu-MM
  • For “circa” dates, add a tilde at the end: YYYY-MM-DD~
  • To represent a single date within a series of dates or date range, use “one of a set”:
    • Series of non-consecutive dates: [YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY, YYYY-MM]
    • Consecutive date range: [YYYY..YYYY]
    • After a known date: [YYYY-MM..]
  • Examples:

Basic date

1879-03-29

Date range

1941-12/1945-08

Date with only a decade known

189u

Approximate date

1865-05~

One of a set

[1975-08-07..1975-08-10]

"Before" a known date

[..1909]

Additional Information

  • If you want to see the full guidelines for dates, see the Date page
  • For more information about where to find creation date(s) on an object, see Where Can the Date Information be Found?
  • For formatting instruction for all types of dates, see General Date Rules
  • For additional guidelines regarding creation dates (including special instructions for postcards and items that are derivations), see Creation Dates
  • For information about other kinds of dates, see Special Dates
  • To see additional examples, see Other Examples
  • For a list of useful links for dates, see the Resources section

Language

This field is required.

General Information

  • Choose the relevant language from the drop-down menu
  • If the item is in multiple languages include all that are relevant
  • If an image or object does not have any text in or around the image, use “no language”
  • Examples:

A book written in English

eng - English

A photograph with no written text or visible words in the image

nol - No Language

An opera in French and Italian

fre - French
ita - Italian

Additional Information

Description: Content Description

This field is required.

General Information

  • Describe what the item is about using proper grammar and punctuation
  • Start the description with a statement of the item type (e.g., “Photograph of…”)
  • Be descriptive about the object but only include details helpful for users
  • Short relevant statements about history can be made after a descriptive statement about the actual image or object
  • For names that are often abbreviated (organizations, schools, military installations, etc.), be sure to have the full name somewhere in the record
  • Examples:

Photograph from Cowtown Coliseum

Photograph of a cowboy riding a brown bull in an arena. A rodeo clown is standing in the right side of the image; behind him, people are watching from the other side of a red fence.

Postcard with text

Postcard of the Custom House building in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The back of the postcard includes a thank you note addressed to Capt. Elmer C. Croom from L. R. de la Peña.

Genealogy Newsletter

Quarterly publication containing genealogical information about families in East Texas including fifth generation charts, family histories, and lists of records (births, deaths, etc.).

Additional Information

Description: Physical Description

This field is VERY strongly recommended.

General Information

  • Whenever possible, include a physical description using the format: extent : physical details ; dimensions

Note: leave out ‘physical details’ if they do not apply or are not readily available

  • Specify units for dimensions (cm., in., etc.) and always round up to the next full centimeter (the only exceptions are “standard sized” photographs, A/V recordings, and born-digital materials)
  • Physical descriptions are based on item type:
Extent Physical Details Dimensions Example(s)
Books and printed text:

number of pages (# p.)

illustrated? (ill.)

height in cm.		 30 p. ; 28 cm.

iv, 320 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Photographs and 'graphic' items:

number and kind of items
negative/positive?
color? (col. or b&w)
born-digital? (digital)

height x width in cm.*		 1 postcard : col. ; 9 x 13 cm.

1 photograph : negative, b&w ; 4 x 5 in.
Maps:

number and kind of item
special kind (like 'blueprint')?
color? (col., hand col.)

height x width in cm.		 1 map : blueprint ; 41 x 29 cm.

1 map : col. ; 26 x 20 cm.
Manuscripts (handwritten items):

number of pages (# p.)

illustrated? (ill.)

height in cm.

25 p. : col. ill. ; 36 cm.
Music (printed):

number of scores/parts and page numbers

illustrated?

height in cm.		 1 cello part (5 p.) ; 36 cm.
Sound recordings:

number and kind of items with playing time
digital or analog?
playing speed?
diameter of disc in in.
gauge of film in mm.		 1 sound disc (80 min.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.
Motion pictures and videorecordings:

number and kind of items with playing time

sound (sd.) or silent (si.)?
color (col.) or black and white (b&w)?

gauge of film (mm. or in.) or diameter of discs (in.)		 1 video disc (1 hr., 45 min.) : sd., col. ; 8 in.

2 film reels (ca. 55 min. each) : si., b&w ; standard 8 mm.
Three-dimensional objects:

number and kind of items
material (when known)
color?

height x width x depth in cm.		 1 saucer : porcelain, col. ; 18 cm. in diam.

1 niddy noddy : wood ; 29 x 46 cm.

* Note: for photographs that are ‘standard sizes’ (as defined by UNTL guidelines) dimensions can use measurements other than cm.

Additional Information

Subjects and Keywords

This field is required.

General Information

  • There is no limit on the number of subjects/keywords, but they should describe what the item is ‘about’ and be useful for finding the item
  • Subjects from controlled vocabularies should be formatted properly
  • Keywords should be lowercase and plural (except for proper names)
  • Records for The Portal to Texas History must have at least one subject string from the UNT Libraries Browse Structure (UNTL-BS)
  • People visible in photographs can be included as named persons (names are inverted and may include titles, suffixes, and nicknames)
  • Examples:

Keywords

horseback riding
postcards

UNTL-Browse Subject

Business, Economics and Finance - Transportation - Railroads - Trains

Named person

Steever, Col. Edgar Z.

Named animal

Doc Persnickety

Library of Congress Subject Heading

Denton County (Tex.) -- Maps.

Additional Information

Primary Source

This field is optional - if you are unsure whether something is a primary source, choose “N/A” (not applicable).

General Information

  • Primary sources are first-hand accounts of historical subjects
  • Mark “Yes” using the form radio button if the item is a primary source
  • Mark “No” using the form radio button if the item is not a primary source
  • Examples:

Primary sources

maps
photographs
letters

Not primary sources

yearbooks

Additional Information

Coverage

This field is optional – if the coverage information is unknown, leave it blank.

General Information

  • Coverage tells what a thing is about rather than when and where it was made (so, a book about the end of World War II in Texas published in 2005 in New York would have a coverage place of “United States - Texas” and year “1945”)
    • Coverage places should be entered using hierarchical formatting from the largest to the smallest level (i.e., United States - [State] - [County] County - [City])
    • Do not include levels bigger than “country” or smaller than “city” in the hierarchy
    • Use the hierarchy found in the GeoNames unless it falls into our list of exceptions
  • For items that have an extremely precise known location, a place point (e.g., the spot where a photo was taken) or place box (e.g., the coordinate boundaries of a map) can also be added
  • Coverage dates can be entered, if known, either as a single coverage date or a date range using the same formatting as creation dates
  • Records in The Portal to Texas History can also include relevant time periods chosen from our list of “eras”
    • When choosing eras, always use the most generic time period that includes the year(s) unless a specific topic is relevant
  • Examples:

Coverage place in Texas

United States - Texas - Denton County - Denton

Coverage place outside of Texas

Germany - Lower Saxony - Region Hannover District - Hanover

Coverage place that is an exception to the rules

United States - New York - New York City

Single coverage date

1862-05~

Coverage date range

1905/1922

Coverage time period

rep-tex - The Republic of Texas

Additional Information

Source

This field is optional – if there is no source or the source is unknown, leave it blank.

General Information

  • When only a part of the object is scanned (for example: a map from a book), source is used to cite the parent object
  • Source is also used if the item comes from a larger event (such as a conference or exhibition)
  • Include the major information about the source object including: title, author, publication/creation date, identifier (if applicable)
  • Separate information with commas
  • If relevant, choose the kind of source from the drop-down menu
  • Examples:

Map from a book of plats

Source (book): [O. K. Hobbs Plat Book], [Abilene (Tex.)] City Engineering Department, 1930

Clipping from a newspaper

Source (newspaper): Dallas Morning News, March 3, 1999. p. 26A

Additional Information

Relation

This field is optional - if there is no relation or the relation is unknown, leave it blank.

General Information

  • Relation is used to show how two objects in the UNT Libraries system are related to one another
  • Relationships are reciprocal, from a controlled list of pairs (for example, one object would have the relationship “Has part” and its related object would have the relationship “Is part of”)
  • Generally, an object will have relation(s) that point to every related object (a map that has 4 additional copies would have 4 relation fields, each pointing to a different copy)
  • Include the title, identifier (if relevant) and ark of the related item
  • Examples:

Index to a series of volumes

Volume that has a separate index

(References): Experiment Station Record Volume 1, ark:/67531/metadc5053

(Is referenced by): U.S. Experiment Station Record General Index to Volumes 1-12, ark:/67531/metadc5060

Map blueprint that has a non-blueprint copy

Map that is a copy of a blueprint

(Has format): Map of North Park Addition to Abilene, Texas [#2], OKHPB_0470, ark:/67531/metapth77939

(Is format of): Map of North Park Addition to Abilene, Texas [#1], OKHPB_0468, ark:/67531/metapth77936

Report from a soil survey

Map that accompanies a soil survey

(Has part): Soil map, Texas, Wilson County, ark:/67531/metapth19658

(Is part of): Soil survey of Wilson County, Texas, ark:/67531/metapth19820

Additional Information

Institution and Collection

These fields are required.

General Information

  • Based on information from partner institutions and departments, institution and collection codes are created at the start of each project
  • Be sure to choose the correct institution and collection(s) from the drop-down menus based on the information you are given about the project
  • Sometimes items will have more than one collection but each item can have only one institution
  • Examples:

Institution

ACRM - Amon Carter Museum

Collection

HSUY - Hardin-Simmons University Yearbooks

Additional Information

  • If you want to see the full guidelines for institution, see the Institution page
  • To see additional institution examples, see Other Examples
  • If you want to see the full guidelines for collection, see the Collection page
  • To see additional collection examples, see Other Examples

Resource Type and Format

These fields are required.

General Information

  • Resource type and format both describe what kind of item the object is
  • Choose the most specific resource type that is relevant from the UNT Libraries list
  • For “format”, choose the corresponding, more generic form of the resource type from the format list
  • Examples:

Photograph

Resource type: image_photo - Photograph
Format: image

Map

Resource type: image_map - Map
Format: image

Letter

Resource type: text_letter
Format: text

Additional Information

  • If you want to see the full guidelines for resource types, see the Resource Type page
  • To see additional resource type examples, see Other Examples
  • To see the full list of resource types, see the Comments section
  • If you want to see the full guidelines for formats, see the Format page
  • To see additional format examples, see Other Examples
  • To see the full list of formats, see the Comments section

Identifier

This field is optional - if there is no identifier or if the identifier is unknown, leave it blank.

General Information

  • Include as many identifiers as are relevant (they may be written on the item or come from a catalog record)
  • Some identifiers are assigned by the institution that owns the objects (accession or local control number); some may be found in related records (call numbers, OCLC accession numbers, Library of Congress Control Number, etc.); and some can be found on the item (report numbers, ISBN, etc.)
  • For accession numbers assigned by the holding institution, the institution code may be added to the front (e.g., OKHPB_0185)
  • Examples:

Call number

M1500.G68 A4

OCLC number

50684665

Library of Congress Control Number

sn86088968

Local control number

ELPL_B650

Additional Information

Note

This field is optional – if there are no notes, leave it blank

General Information

  • Notes are used for information that is important about the item but that does not fit into another field
  • Display notes are used for information that users might want or need to know
  • Non-display notes are used for information that is important for internal records but that users should not or do not need to see
  • Display notes are searchable but non-display notes are not
  • Examples:

Display note containing information from a title page

"Issued May 11, 1918."

Display note for pagination issues

Missing pages 15 and 16.

Non-display note about internal metadata decisions

Shortened title was chosen for official title to facilitate discovery.

Additional Information

Degree Information

These fields should be used for products of the UNT community, only

  • Projects that use the Degree field include: UNT Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs), materials in the UNT Scholarly Works collection, other items created by the UNT community
  • If you are working on items created at UNT, read the full guidelines for this field on the Degree Information page.
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