Research Guides: Discovery and Metadata: Metadata Guidelines

Some guidelines to help you on your metadata journey...

Menu: Dublin Core | Naming Conventions | Rights Statements | Statement on harmful language

Dublin Core

In libraries, we use Dublin Core, a set of 15 main metadata items used to describe digital resources. Dublin Core (DC) can be used to describe a variety of resource types, for example video, audio, images, and web pages. The standard is flexible, can be customized, and ranges from simple to complex descriptions. It can be extended into qualified Dublin Core, which adds additional descriptive elements, helping to create rich, descriptive metadata that makes it easier for users to find our collections. DC allows for other system interoperability, so images from our collections can be ingested into catalogs and the elements can be mapped to that system's standards. Dublin Core also lends itself to potential use in linked data environments and Semantic Web implementation. For these reasons, we recommend the use of Dublin Core for digital projects and collections. Each collection should consider the following fifteen elements at a minimum.

Dublin Core™ Metadata Element Set
Metadata Elements	Definition	Recommended Standards
Contributor	An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource	First Name Last Name Last Name, First Name First Name M. Last Name Last Name, First Name M. First Name Family Name Corporate Name in Direct Order
Coverage	The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant	Latitude, Longitude (Ex: 40.802720, -124.167280) Era: Jurassic Period Date range: 1960-1970
Creator	An entity primarily responsible for making the resource	First Name Last Name Last Name, First Name First Name M. Last Name Last Name, First Name M. First Name Family Name Corporate Name in Direct Order
Date	A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource	YYYYMMDD (Ex: 20230824) YYYYMM YYYY
Description	An account of the resource	Abstract or summary
Format	The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource	Internet Media Type (MIME)
Identifier	An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context	Use standard filenaming conventions
Language	A language of the resource	Use ISO 639-3 codes
Publisher	An entity responsible for making the resource available	Corporate name in direct order (Example: Momazon Corporation or Cal Poly Humboldt Library) Entity Responsible, corporate or individual
Relation	A related resource	Related resource, typically linked (Example: See also the collection homepage for this object)
Rights	Information about rights held in and over the resource	Rightsstatements.org for cultural heritage objects Creativecommons.org for creators
Source	A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Subject	The topic of the resource	See Local Subjects Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM)
Title	A name given to the resource	Use capital case or sentence case
Type	The nature or genre of the resource	DCMI Type Vocabulary

Each of our collections uses customized DC elements. The only element that is always required is "title", but each collection may have different requirements depending on need. See our data dictionaries for a complete list of Dublin Core elements used in our collections.

Naming Conventions

If you've ever found yourself in a situation where you finished a document and saved it as FINAL.doc, realized you had to edit, saved it as FINALFINAL.doc, realized you had to edit, saved it as FINALFINALFINAL.doc...ad nauseam, then this section may be helpful to you.

Characteristics of good naming conventions, whether for files or a person's name, include the following standards: Consistency, Uniformity, Standardization, Accuracy, Distinguishable.
Always include the same elements or style every time. For names, if you use Last Name, First Name convention, always use that convention. For files, if you use the date in the filename, always include the date in the file name. Try not to use abbreviations, spell it out. This will help anyone reading the content understand what you mean. If you do use abbreviations, be consistent.
Be uniform in your treatments. If you use sentence case for titles, always use sentence case for titles in all your records. This helps with the look and feel of the collection.
Use standardized practice where applicable. For instance, when we use Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), we subscribe to those standards for consistency and accuracy.
What, who, and when are helpful guidelines for distinguished filenames. This will help sort files within a system and help you find them on your own computer. It will also be descriptive enough that anyone will know what they are without having to open them.

Examples of Naming Conventions
Type	Example
File naming convention	TechnicalReports_LeadershipTeam_20230824.pdf (Follows What_Who_When) 1999.01.0479.jpg (Distinguished photo identifier, easy to identify in physical collection)
Persons names	First Name Last Name Last Name, First Name First Name M. Last Name Last Name, First Name M. First Name Family Name

Relevant XKCD comic

Rights Statements

As an institution working with cultural heritage objects, we have opted to use RightsStatements.org to adhere to standards for our collections. RightsStatements.org provides 12 standardized statements for cultural heritage institutions that are designed for both human and machines to parse. These do not replace detailed rights information associated with collection management.

We are also exploring more about Traditional Knowledge (TK) Labels and Biocultural (BC) Labels and how they might relate to our collections.

Statement on harmful language in library and archival descriptions

Cal Poly Humboldt Library is committed to reviewing and updating harmful language in our descriptive records. We are actively working to develop a policy that reflects this commitment.