This document provides recommendations on formatting and usage when creating descriptive metadata for digital objects included in the HBCU Digital Library Trust collections. Metadata for the HBCU Digital Library Trust is based on the Dublin Core metadata schema and OCLC FAST subject headings. Dublin Core consists of a series of repeatable elements identified as basic descriptive information for electronic resources. The HBCU Digital Library Trust strives to create descriptions that are respectful, sensitive, and accurate. Whenever possible we consult best practices and work collaboratively with participants. The guide can viewed here or downloaded as a PDF document.
African American actors
African American artists
African American arts
African American athletes
African American churches
African American clergy
African American dancers
African American educators
African American men
African American neighborhoods
African American scholars
African American scientists
African American singers
African American student movements
African American students
African American teachers
African American teenagers
African American universities and colleges
African American women
African American youth--Education
African Americans--Agriculture
African Americans--Civil rights
African Americans--Education
African Americans--Housing
African Americans--Segregation
African Americans--Social conditions
Associations, institutions, etc.
Buildings and grounds
Campus life
Church buildings
Church history
Class collages
College presidents
College publications
College student newspapers and periodicals
College students
Commencement ceremonies
Early childhood education
Education--Curricula
Education--Religion
Events and programs
Faculty and staff
Greek letter societies
Groups and organizations
Home economics
Industrial arts
Interior decoration [use for interior shots of buildings]
Lectures and lecturing
Library education
Military education
Philosophy and religion
Physical education and training
Portraits and people
Preaching
Rites and ceremonies
School integration
Special events [banquets, parties, etc.]
Teachers colleges
Theatre and dance
Women's colleges
Women's rights
Women--Societies and clubs
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Dublin Core |
ContentDM Field |
Description |
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DC.Title: searchable, public/staff field; required field |
Title |
Title is a concise sentence which will be used to label the object; it may also be the first line of the descriptive information. Use existing titles when available. in the case of newspaper articles or other work when an exact title is being used, put that title in quotes, example: "Students Celebrate Homecoming Weekend", October 1966. If no title is provided, use the information within the document or a finding aid if provided. Avoid using abbreviations. If no title is available, supply a brief and descriptive title, e.g., Jesse Jackson Speaks in an Auditorium, circa 1995.
Use title case style capitalization, e.g., The Scholarly Communications Crisis, and make it read smoothly. If unsure of what to capitalize, use a generator such as https://titlecase.com/ or https://titlecaseconverter.com/
EXAMPLES: [*note punctuation for dates]: Jesse Jackson Speaks in an Auditorium, January 5, 1995 Jesse Jackson Speaks in an Auditorium, January 1995 Jesse Jackson Speaks in an Auditorium, 1995 Jesse Jackson Speaks in an Auditorium, circa 1995
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DC.Creator: searchable, public/staff field REPEATABLE |
Author/Creator |
A repeatable field with the delimiter “;”, the creator is the author of a document, the person who took a photograph, the person being interviewed for an oral history, etc. Information about the creator should be taken from the original document or the Finding Aid or the catalog record. Record the name as: Last name, First name. If not in the LoC name authority headings, record following the convention of LastName, FirstName MI. EXAMPLES: Leming, James S., 1941- Shakur, Tupac, 1971-1996 Smith, Robert A. Smith, Robert A.; Walker, Jane |
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DC.Date: Searchable, public/staff field; required field |
Date.Original |
The date, or publication date, refers to the date the original was created, not the scan. This field is machine-readable and needs to be entered in YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD format. If there s no known date (where you have given a “circa” date in the title, include a limited range of dates around the date you approximated. For example, if you think item is “circa 1965” the range in this date field could be 1963-1968 which would then date that object as 1963; 1964; 1965; 1966; 1967; 1968 for searching purposes.
EXAMPLES: 1987 1987-10 1987-10-31 1963-1968 |
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DC.Description: searchable, public/staff field |
Description |
In photographs and other archival materials, a short description of the item. The description field for a photograph or document is a shorter abstract, usually one or two sentences, with common grammar and punctuation, and avoiding personal or editorial statements. Proof your work to ensure all sentences are well-formed and complete. Include all descriptive keywords you may think researchers would find important. If a .jpeg/photograph with handwriting with descriptive writing on front or back of photograph, you can include this here to make it searchable using “Written on recto:” or “Written on verso:” to refer to writing on the front or back of image.
EXAMPLES: Members of the Early Bennett College Seminary Classes held in the St. Matthews Church Basement.
Annie Merner Pfeiffer Hall was erected in 1934 as a senior dormitory under the 1930's building program begun after Bennett College became a women's college. The building was designed by Charles C. Hartmann, one of Greensboro's most prominent architects.
Exterior of Bibb Graves Hall with students gathering outside on benches. Written on verso: Bib Graves Hall was built in 1928 as the dormitory for women on the Montgomery campus. |
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DC.Subject: searchable, public/staff field REPEATABLE |
Subjects |
A repeatable field with the delimiter “;”, FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) is derived from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), one of the library domain’s most widely used subject terminology schemas. FAST has been developed in large part to meet the need for a general-use subject terminology scheme, which is simple to learn and apply: https://fast.oclc.org/searchfast/ Each object should have 3-5 subjects -- just enough to describe the main subjects of the object. Copy and paste terms to avoid misspelling and to keep capitalization exactly as listed. Best practice is to create, retain, and use your own “controlled vocabulary” using FAST, so like materials in your collection will have consistent tagging. If no appropriate subject in FAST, create your own, just be consistent. Note that these are TOPICAL terms from FAST, not corporate or personal names, geographical or named events. These should either go in description or appropriate field. For more information on FAST, see the FAST Quickstart Guide. See end of Guide for a starter list of FAST subjects for the HBCU collections.
REPEATABLE: Buildings and grounds; Campus life; African American universities and colleges
EXAMPLES – FAST terms: African American architects African American civic leaders African American student movements African American students African American universities and colleges College student newspapers and periodicals Political participation Theology--Study and teaching
EXAMPLES – Non-FAST terms (may be most suitable for school collections): Buildings and grounds Campus life Commencement ceremonies Events and programs Faculty and staff Groups and organizations Portraits and people Presidents |
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DC.Type: searchable, public/staff field; required field |
Object Type |
Denotes genre or type of material. If more than one term is applicable, list the form of the item scanned first. Terms in this field are taken from the LC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials: Genre and Physical Characteristic Terms (LC TGM II)
EXAMPLES: Black & white photographs [includes 1900s sepia toned photographs] Color photographs Lithographs Clippings Periodicals Manuscripts Documents Postcards Ephemera
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DC.Format |
Format |
The format of the image or digital file, expressed in the MIME format following type/subtype convention. Enter the access copy MIME Type as it is displayed. Mozilla gives a nicer truncated list. These will be the common formats, but note that there may be other subtypes used dependent on the format.
EXAMPLES: Most used type vocabulary: image/jpeg [an access photo jpeg file] application/pdf [an access pdf file] text/plain [a human readable document]
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DC: Coverage-Spatial |
Geographic Location |
The Location of the image, audiovisual event, or publication – use OCLC FAST for consistent display. Note that a general convention in FAST is BroaderTerm--NarrowerTerm--EvenNarrowerTerm. If location is not in FAST and needs to be created, please follow that convention. [note: separator is TWO DASHES WITH NO SPACING IN BETWEEN ELEMENTS] GENERALLY, this will only be state--city or the like depending on where in the world the location is. Only in rare occasions would a third refinement be used. If not found in FAST, Geography information can always be placed in the description/abstract. *if no location can be discerned, leave blank.
EXAMPLES: Liberia--Monrovia Georgia--Atlanta North Carolina--Charlotte |
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DC.Identifier: searchable, public/staff field |
Identifier |
Number that users can reference to inquire about the digital image, typically the file name of the object.
EXAMPLES: auc.001.0307.jpg vhi.btw.ph014.jpg vsu.arc.dee.txt001.jpg
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DC.Source: non-searchable, public/staff field |
Repository |
The institution where the item is physically located. EXAMPLES: Grambling State University Southern University at Shreveport Library |
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DC.Relation-Is Part of: searchable, public/staff field |
Repository Collection |
This field contains the collection name and its number, represented as a phrase.
EXAMPLES: William E. Meed Collection. PH Coll 246 Atlanta University Photographs Collection, auc.001 Joseph Willams Papers, MU_012
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DC. Language: searchable, public/staff field REPEATABLE |
Language |
A language of the intellectual content of the resource. Values should be taken from the ISO 639-2 standard, and expressed as three letter codes (i.e., eng, fre). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-2_codes |
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DC. Rights: non-searchable, public/staff field |
Rights |
Rights statement supplied by the organization. Please ”future proof” this statement by leaving out specific individuals in this statement, instead referring to the department or general Library Director role.
EXAMPLES: Copyright © is retained in accordance with U.S. Copyright laws. The Archives Department of Alabama State University Levi Watkins Learning Center retains the original scanned files. For inquiries about further use, please contact The Archives Department.
Items in this collection are property of Morgan State University and protected by copyright and/or related rights. Fair Use for educational purposes apply. Permission to reproduce or publish this item is required and may be subject to copyright, fees, and other legal restrictions. For more information, please contact davis.room@morgan.edu. |