Technical Report Archive and Image Library Metadata Guidelines

Introduction

These guidelines supplement the current UNT Libraries’ standards for creating metadata, focusing on items that belong to the TRAIL Collection. For items that do not belong in this collection, please see the full UNT Libraries Metadata Input Guidelines.

TRAIL Metadata Input Guidelines

Editors can access records by logging in at https://edit.digital.library.unt.edu/

Due to the way that template records are created when items are uploaded, there may be placeholders and/or duplicated values:

  • Unless specifically noted, duplicate entries should be deleted

  • Placeholders should be replaced with appropriate values or deleted/removed

  • When removing entries, use the “x” button in the lower-right corner

Information for TRAIL documents may be found on:

  • the cover page

  • the title page

  • introductory material (abstract, table of contents, etc.)

  • OCLC or catalog records

  • microform headers (for microfiche or microcards)

If there is a situation not covered on this page, use the links at the bottom of the individual field guidelines (or the “Help” links in the edit system) to find additional information

Title

General Information

  • All items must have one “Main Title” and at least one series title; some times may have additional titles

  • Always choose the appropriate qualifier (main, series, added, etc.) from the controlled vocabulary

Main Titles

  • The main title should generally match the title on the title page of the report

  • Change Roman numerals to Arabic numbers and quote the original numerals in a display note

  • As necessary, add minor punctuation (commas or colons) or clarifications in [square brackets]

Examples

  • Absorption-Multistage Flash Distillation Process

  • Safety Rules for the Installation and Maintenance of Electrical Supply and Communication Lines

  • 30 Megawatt Heat Exchanger and Steam Generator for Sodium Cooled Reactor System: Volume 4, Operation and Maintenance Procedures (Display Note: “Volume IV.”)

  • Aerial Radiological Monitoring System: [Part] 1. Theoretical Analysis, Design, and Operation of a Revised System

Series Titles

  • Every report should have at least one series title, generally representing the responsible agency

  • Some reports may also have LC titles <https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names.html> related to the report series, or be part of other series

  • Series titles should generally be written to be “human readable” unless they are authorized LC titles

  • List of current series/serial titles

Examples

  • Argonne National Laboratory Reports

  • National Bureau of Standards Reports

  • Babcock & Wilcox Company Reports

  • United States Bureau of Mines Law Serials

  • LA (Series) (Los Alamos, N.M.)

  • AEC research and development report

  • Contributions to economic geology

Serial Titles

  • Most serials in this collection are regularly-issued reports (e.g., annual, quarterly, or monthly reports)

  • The serial title is the part that stays the same

  • We sometimes add clarifying information to make these titles more useful (e.g., “Argonne National Laboratory Annual Report” vs. “Annual Report”, which could apply to any report)

  • More information on Series and Serials

  • List of current series/serial titles

Examples

  • Quarry Accidents in the United States During the Calendar Year

  • ANL Reactor Chemistry Division Annual Progress Report

Added Titles

  • Every report should have an added title that includes the report number appended to the appropriate organization series title

  • Some items could have other added titles (e.g., variations in titles printed on cover vs. title page)

Examples

  • Argonne National Laboratory Report ANL-6437

  • United States Bureau of Mines Bulletin 5258

  • National Bureau of Standards Monograph 10

Alternate Titles

  • An alternate title can be included any time there are abbreviations/acronyms in the title to ensure that a written-out or full version is included as a searchable title

Examples

  • Report 1

    • Main Title: Estimate of Known Recoverable Reserves and Preparation and Carbonizing Properties of Coking Coal in Campbell County, Tennessee

    • Alternate Title: Estimate of Known Recoverable Reserves and Preparation and Carbonizing Properties of Coking Coal in Campbell County, Tenn.

  • Report 2

    • Main Title: Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance Basic Data for Rice Lake NTMS Quadrangle, Wisconsin

    • Alternate Title: Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance Basic Data for Rice Lake National Topographic Map Series Quadrangle, Wisconsin

Additional Title Information

Creator/Contributor

General Information

  • Enter people/organizations responsible for creating the report

  • If known, use the authorized form of the name from the Library of Congress Authorities

  • List the creators in order of importance

    • If creators are equally important, enter them in the order they are listed

  • Creators will generally include:

    • author(s) - persons or or an agency/department responsible for writing the report

    • editor(s)

    • compilers(s)

  • Contributors may include:

    • author(s) - if they are only responsible for a portion/section

    • originator - usually the agency doing the project (or where the authors work)

    • sponsor(s) - often the Atomic Energy Commission

    • funder(s)

  • For each entry, include the name, type, and role

  • Agents cannot be duplicated across creator/contributor (e.g., a department cannot be the author/creator and also the originator/contributor)

Individual Names

  • Invert names (last, first middle)

    • Use the fullest known version of the name, or initials if full names are not known

    • Add spaces between initials (unless they are hyphenated)

    • Put additional middle names after the first name

    • Keep hyphenated names together when inverting

    • Consider multiple parts (von, de la, etc.) as part of the last name

  • If it is unclear which part of the name is the surname, enter the name as it appears on the item

  • Include suffixes that are part of the name (Jr., Sr. etc.) at the end, after a second comma

  • Do not include:

    • nicknames

    • abbreviations

    • titles (e.g., Dr.) unless the first name is unknown

    • job or educational qualifiers (e.g., Ph.D.)

  • Alternate forms of names (e.g., abbreviations) can go in the information section

Examples

  • Gillogley, Ernest

  • Foster, K. W.

  • Hye-Young Lee

  • Hartwig, Frederick J., Jr.

  • Cheadle, Jesse M., III

  • Thompson, Stanley Gerald, 1912-1976

Organization Names

  • Use the names as they appear in the item for non-government or single-level bodies

  • Do not invert personal names that are parts of organizational names

  • For hierarchical agencies, list each level from highest to lowest

    • Separate each part of the hierarchy with a period

    • If the hierarchy is unclear, record the name as it is listed on the item

Examples

  • Geodata International

  • Babcock & Wilcox Company

  • U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

  • United States. Department of Energy. Technical Information Center.

  • General Electric Company. Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Department.

  • Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information (U.S.)

Roles & Info

  • The “Role” should describe how a person/organization assisted in an item’s creation

    • Roles are not the same as a job title (e.g., an agency director is not labeled “Director”)

    • If the creator/contributor has multiple roles, choose the primary or most encompassing role (or the one listed first) and then add a note in info

  • The “Info” portion is not required, but may be used to add readily-available notes related to the specific item

    • Info may include other versions of a name or clarify the role

    • Always include clarification if the role is listed as “Other”

Info Examples

  • Compiler and editor

  • Available from the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Springfield, VA

  • Data Base Management [clarifying the section authored by contributor]

Additional Creator Information

Additional Contributor Information

Publisher

  • The publisher is generally listed on the title page or cover

  • Include the name and location if known

  • Other versions of the name can be included in the “info”

Examples

  • Example 1

    • Name: U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

    • Location: Washington D.C.

  • Example 2

    • Name: Martin Company. Nuclear Division.

    • Location: Baltimore, Maryland

  • Example 3

    • Name: United States. Bureau of Mines.

    • Location: [Washington D.C.]

    • Information: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Mines

Additional Publisher Information

Date

  • The date that the report was issued/published

  • Write dates in the form YYYY-MM-DD

    • You can use only the year (YYYY) or the year and month (YYYY-MM) if the other parts are unknown

Examples

  • 1963

  • 1988-03

  • 1975-02-15

Additional Date Information

Language

  • Double-check that a language (English) is selected

  • Add other language(s) if appropriate

Additional Language Information

Description: Content Description

  • Describe what the item is about in full sentences, using proper grammar and punctuation (usually 1-3 sentences).

  • Cite quoted text (if applicable).

  • You may be able to use the abstract, but make sure that it actually describes the content of the report and label it as an abstract. Extremely long abstracts should be summarized.

  • For multi-part/volume reports, the description should be about the content of the specific part or volume (so that users know which one is relevant).

Examples

  • Report discussing the relative thermal conductivities of liquid lithium, sodium, and eutectic NaK, and the specific heat of liquid lithium, as well as the methods and materials used to determine this information.

  • Report discussing a particular method of converting saline water through vapor compression distillation at plants of different sizes. From Introduction: “This report is divided into three Sections (Books) each with its own index. Books I and II contain process and economic data for a 50,000 gpd pilot plant and a 10,000,000 gpd production plant. Book III contains process and economic data for high and low temperature units of 1,000,000 gpd size.”

  • Quarterly report discussing progress on the Fast Ceramic Reactor Development Program, “an integrated analytical and experimental program directed toward the development of fast reactors employing ceramic fuels, with particular attention to mixed plutonium-uranium oxide” (p. 1).

  • Abstract: A re-evaluation of the cost of producing essentially hafnium free zirconium as zirconium oxide at a rate of 150,000-200,000 pounds zirconium per year by solvent extraction of the metal thiocyanates in a permanent plant has been made. Using part of the present temporary facilities, the cost, with five year amortization of the plant, will be $3.15 per pound zirconium. A by-product of the mixed oxides of hafnium and zirconium, having at least fifty percent hafnium and perhaps as high as ninety percent hafnium, can be made available with little additional cost.

  • First volume of the results of a detail area gamma ray and magnetic field survey providing a general overview including: “1. Flight Operations; 2. Data Acquisition and Processing; 3. Synopsis of Surface Geology; 4. Geologic Data Interpretation; 5. Geochemical Data Interpretation; 6. Geologic-Geochemical Analogy; 7. Summary and Recommendation for Geologic and Geochemical Units; 8. Reconnaissance Data” (p. I-1).

Additional Content Description Information

Description: Physical Description

This field is optional but strongly recommended.

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

  • “extent” = pagination (either printed numbers or total content pages in [square brackets]) OR type of item (e.g.: 1 map)

  • Leave out ‘physical details/dimensions’ if they do not apply or are not readily available

Examples

  • 161 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm.

  • xv, 47 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm.

  • [430] pages ; 26 cm.

  • 17 pages : illustrations, charts

Additional Physical Description Information

Subjects and Keywords

  • 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/keywords answer questions like: who, what, where, and when (without duplicating information in other fields)

  • Choose as many terms as necessary to capture subject content:

    • Avoid terms too general to describe a particular item

    • An average of five subject/keyword entries is recommended

  • Choose the correct subject type from the drop-down menu for each one

  • If relevant controlled terms are available, they must follow the formatting/punctuation rules of the controlled vocabulary

    • E.g., Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (LCGFT) are searchable in the edit form

  • Informal keywords may be added as needed to help users locate the resource

    • Use plural forms of keywords

    • The singular form of a keyword may be used when there is no reasonable plural

    • If the keyword’s plural is formed irregularly, the singular and plural forms can be added separately

    • Break phrases into the smallest useful phrase

    • Only capitalize proper nouns or acronyms

Examples

  • Keyword: Liquid Metal Fuel Reactor

  • Keyword: LMFR

  • Keyword: EVESR reactor

  • Keyword: smoke inhalation

  • Keyword: quarterly reports

  • LCGFT: Periodicals

  • LCGFT: Annual reports

  • LCGFT: Quadrangle maps

Additional Subject Information

Coverage

This field is optional.

  • Most reports will not have coverage information, but if the title/abstract references specific place(s) and/or date(s), they should be added here to make them browseable

    • Place Name: If the report is about a specific place (e.g., “survey of Lea County, New Mexico” or “the area near Los Angeles, California”), include the location

    • Place Box: Used to mark an area when a study is confined by specific coordinates (e.g., a quadrangle); coordinates are automatically saved when a box is drawn or map boundary latitude/longitude (decimal format) are entered in the place box model

    • Coverage Date: If the report content references a specific period (e.g., a quarterly report of a survey/collection period) add a single coverage date for the time or range included – this is not the publication date

Examples

  • Place Name: United States - California - Los Angeles County

  • Place Name: United States - Alaska

  • Coverage Date: 1927

  • Coverage Date: 1935-08-13/1958-09-03

  • Coverage Date: 1945/1954

Additional Coverage Information

Relation

This field is optional – it will only be used when there is a relationship and both items are online

  • In cases where two items are directly related (e.g., a report that has a separate appendix), link them together using the Relation field

    • This often happens when appendices/data are on microfiche or an alternate format attached to a printed report

  • Information will be added to the records for both items:

    • The title of the related item (if titles are the same, add the item type or clarification in [square brackets]

    • Permalink (ARK) to the related record

  • Choose the appropriate relation qualifier from the relation type vocabulary for example:

    • A report References a separate appendix (printed or fiche), which Is referenced by: the report

    • A full report Is basis for a separately-published executive summary, which Is based on: the full report

    • A microfiche/microcard version Is format of a printed/alternate copy of the same report, which Has format: microfiche/microcard version

Examples

  • Report with separate appendix (printed or alternate format):

    • Report References: Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometer and Magnetometer Survey Mariposa, Fresno, and Bakersfield Quadrangles: Final Report, Volume 1, Appendix C, ark:/67531/metadc1039098

    • Appendix C Is referenced by: Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometer and Magnetometer Survey Mariposa Quadrangle (California, Nevada), Fresno Quadrangle (California), Bakersfield Quadrangle (California): Final Report, Volume 1, ark:/67531/metadc784526

  • Report with a separately-published summary:

    • Report Is Basis For: A Method for Estimating Ground-Water Return Flow to the Lower Colorado River in the Yuma Area, Arizona and California–Executive Summary, ark:/67531/metadc968027

    • Executive Summary Is Based On: A Method for Estimating Ground-Water Return Flow to the Lower Colorado River in the Yuma Area, Arizona and California, ark:/67531/metadc968219

Additional Relation Information

Institution and Collection

  • This information should be pre-set and not changed

    • Institution: UNTGD - UNT Libraries GovDocs Department

    • Collection: TRAIL - Technical Report Archive and Image Library

  • Some items will have multiple collections

    • Collection: TRAMC - TRAIL Microcard Collection

Resource Type and Format

  • Resource type/format are pre-set and should generally not change unless the item is not a report:

    • Resource Type: text_report - Report

    • Format: text - Text

Additional Type and Format 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

  • Report number(s), the call number, and other readily-available identifiers should be included

    • “Contract” numbers are labeled “Grant Number”

    • For reports about specific quadrangles, include the NTMS number as an “Accession or Local Control Number”

  • Choose the correct type of identifier from the drop-down menu

Examples

  • Report Number: Y-1144

  • Report Number: NBS technical note 343

  • Report Number: ORNL-2866

  • Report Number: HW-20847(Pt. 2)

  • SUDOC Number: Y 3.At 7:22/Y-1144

  • SUDOC Number: C 13.3/a:524

  • Grant Number: AT(05-1)-1642

  • Accession or Local Control Number: NJ 16-10

Additional Identifier Information

Note

This field is optional – only include notes when applicable

  • 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 not visible or searchable, but are used for any information important to internal maintenance of records

Examples

  • “Date: August 14, 1956. Reissued: August 30, 1957.”

  • “This report has been reproduced directly from the best available copy.”

  • “Part II.”

  • Original document does not include pages 6-15 through 6-18.

  • Digitized from microfiche (64).

Additional Note Information