Library of Congress Metadata for Digital Content -- Master Data Element List

Version 4 (November 2, 2009)

Â

The following is a list of data elements used primarily for special collections at the Library of Congress. For metadata that has already been described for existing initiatives, this document serves to map core elements to a common list of data elements. Best practices listed are goals but may not reflect the current state of the metadata.Â For new initiatives, specific projects may choose a subset of these elements and indicate those used in a metadata profile.Â The profiles will include detail about the use of authority lists, etc.Â If a project needs an element not on the list, thee Metadata for Digital Content Working Group may consider it for possible addition.Â Project-specific elements Â should be identified Â in specific profiles.Â Equivalent MODS elements are indicated in the last column, although MODS also has additional elements not listed here.Â Other markups are possible.Â MODS can specify the source vocabulary or form of content where needed (as indicated in the Notes column).Â Alternate languages or scripts of the metadata may be indicated with attributes.

Hyphen (-) before an element indicates that it is a parsing component that may be applied to basic elements in the group.

See notes at the end of the document concerning additional considerations that are not included.

Although required elements are not indicated but are determined in individual metadata profiles, an asterisk indicates that the element is a key one for basic functionality and for discovery by common facets.

Use of best practices will result in more consistent and complete metadata and thus enable a higher level of functionality in access to the collections.

Â

Element Name

Element Definition

Notes about element

Best practices

MODS element

TITLE INFORMATION*

Â

Â

Â

Â

Title

A word, phrase, character, or group of characters, normally appearing in a resource, that names it.

Â

Transcribed from resource or made up title. Prefer indication of introductory nonfiling characters. Parse subtitle, partName, partNumber if appropriate. If parsed, donâ€™t supply punctuation for subelement; if not parsed supply it. Multiple titles with no type should be identifier

<titleInfo><title>

Translated Title

The title in another language.

Â

Â

<titleInfo type=â€translatedâ€> <title>

Alternative Title

A variant form of the title.

Â

Â

<titleInfo type="alternative"> <title>

Â

Abbreviated Title

A short form of the title.

Â

Â

<titleInfo type=â€abbreviatedâ€><title>

Uniform Title

A title assigned to a work that either has no title or has appeared under more than one title.

Â

Identify authority list, if appropriate, e.g., NAF.

<titleInfo type=â€uniformâ€> <title>

Â Â - Non-sort Title element

Nonfiling text which should not be regarded in sorting the title.

Â

Â

<titleInfo><nonSort>

Â Â - Subtitle

The remainder of the title information after the main title.

Â

Â

<titleInfo><subTitle>

Â Â - Title Part Number

A part or section number of a title including volume number or designation of the resource.

partNumber is repeated for levels of enumeration

Â

<titleInfo><partNumber>

Â Â - Title Part Name

A part or section name of a title.

Â

Â

<titleInfo><partName>

DESCRIPTION

Â

Â

Â

Â

Description

Summary or abstract of the content of the resource.Â

Â

Â

<abstract>

Contents

A listing of the contents of a resource.

Â

Â

<tableOfContents>

NAME INFORMATION*

Â

Â

Prefer use of a controlled form if possible

Â

Name

Creator or contributor to the resource.

Â

Prefer inclusion of name type (i.e. personal, corporate).

Identify authority list, if appropriate, e.g., NAF.

<name><namePart>

<name authority=â€â€>

Â

Personal Name

Person associated with resource

Â Â Â Â Â Â

Use inverted form if appropriate and not parsed into family and given name

<name type=â€personalâ€><namePart>

Corporate Name

Corporate body associated with resource

Â

Prefer parsing into components if applicable (e.g. Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division)

<name type=â€corporateâ€> <namePart>

Event Name

Names meeting associated with resource

Â

Â

<name type=â€meetingâ€><namePart>

Â Â Â - Role

A term(s) that designates the relationship (role) of the name to the resource.

Â

Identify authority list, if appropriate.

<name><role>

Â Â Â - Part of Name

One part of a name that is parsed

Â

Â

<name><namePart>

Â Â Â - Family Name

Part of the name that designates family

Â

Â

<name><namePart type=â€familyâ€>

Â Â - Given Name

Part of the name that is a given name

Â

Â

<name><namePart type=â€givenâ€>

Â Â - Date

Dates of birth, death, or flourishing or any other date used with a name

Â

For personal names, parse date

<name><namePart type=â€dateâ€>

PUBLICATION OR ORIGIN

Â

Â

Â

Â

Publisher

An entity responsible for issuing, producing, or making the resource available.

Â

Â

<originInfo><publisher>

Place

A place associated with the issuing, publication, release, distribution, manufacture, production, or origin of a resource.

Â

Â

<originInfo><place>

RESOURCE DATE INFORMATION*

Â

Â

Specify form if appropriate, e.g., display, EDTF, ISO 8601. Give at least one structured date

Â

Date Created

The date of creation of the resource.

Â

Â

<originInfo><dateCreated>

<originInfo><dateCreated encoding=â€â€>

Date Issued

The date that the resource was published, released or issued.

Â

Â

<originInfo><dateIssued>

<originInfo><dateIssued encoding=â€â€>

Date Captured

The date on which the resource was digitized or harvested.

Â

Â

<originInfo><dateCaptured>

<originInfo><dateCaptured encoding=â€â€>

Copyright Date

A date in which a resource is copyrighted

Â

Â

<originInfo><copyrightDate>

<originInfo><copyrightDate encoding=â€â€>

Â Â - Start date

First date of a range

Â

Â

<dateCreated point=â€startâ€> etc.

Â Â - End date

End date of a range

Â

Â

<dateCreated point=â€endâ€> etc.

EDITION INFORMATION

Â

Â

Â

Â

Edition

The edition or version to which the resource belongs.

Â

Â

<originInfo><edition>

LANGUAGE INFORMATION

Â

Â

Â

Â

Language

A designation of the language in which the content of a resource is expressed.

Â

Include a coded date using a part of ISO 639 and specify list, e.g. ISO 639-2.

<language><languageTerm>

<language><languageTerm authority=â€iso639-2bâ€Â type=â€codeâ€>

<language><languageTerm authority=â€codeâ€ objectPart=â€summaryâ€>

Â

TYPE OF RESOURCE*

Â

Â

Â

Â

Type of Resource

The characteristics and general type of content of the resource: text, cartographic, notated music, sound recording-musical, sound recording-nonmusical, sound recording, still image, moving image, three dimensional object, software, multimedia, mixed material

Â

Use the MODS enumerated list of values

<typeOfResource>

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION*

Â

Â

Supply if applicable. Prefer use of both hierarchical and other form (coded and/or textual). Use controlled form if possible.

Â

Geographic (textual)

Name of a place associated with the resource recorded in textual form

Â

Identify authority list, if appropriate, e.g., NAF.

Â

<originInfo><place><placeTerm type=â€textâ€>Â -or-

<subject><geographic>

Geographic (coded)

Name of a place associated with the resource recorded in coded form

Â

Â

<originInfo><place><placeTerm type=â€codeâ€>

Hierarchical geographic

Name of a place associated with the resource recorded in a hierarchical form

Â

Â

<subject><hierarchicalGeographic>

Coordinates

A statement of geographic coordinates covered by the resource

Â

Form may be specified, if appropriate.

<subject><cartographics> <coordinates>

SUBJECT INFORMATION*

Â

Â

Â

Â

Classification

A designation applied to a resource that indicates the subject by applying a formal system of coding and organizing resources according to subject areas.

Â

Identify classification list, e.g., DDC, LCC.

<classification authority=â€â€>

Topic

Terms indicating the subject of the resource.Â Subject string beginning with a topic.

Â

Identify subject list, if appropriate, e.g., LCSH, TGM, keyword, local.

<subject authority=â€â€><topic>

Geographic

Name of a place that is the subject of the resource.Â Subject string beginning with a geographic.

For geographic subdivisions if part of a subject string. For geographic information in general see above.

Â

<subject authority=â€â€><geographic>

Temporal

Chronological subject terms or time period covered.Â Subject string beginning with a temporal.

For temporal coverage; specific types of dates that are not subject see above

Identify subject list, if appropriate, e.g., LCSH, TGM.

<subject authority=â€â€><temporal>

Name

A person or organization that is the subject of the resource.Â Subject string beginning with name.

Â

Identify authority list, if appropriate, e.g., NAF.

<subject authority=â€â€><name><namePart>

Title

A title or work that is the subject of a resource.Â Subject string beginning with a title.

Â

Identify authority list, if appropriate, e.g., NAF.

Â

GENRE*

Â

Â

Â

Â

Genre

A term(s) that designates a category characterizing a particular style, form, or content, such as artistic, musical, literary composition, etc.

Â

Prefer controlled list and specify authority

<genre>

NOTE INFORMATION

Â

Â

Â

Â

Note

General textual information relating to a resource.

.

Identify type ofÂ note, if appropriate, e.g.,Â performers, awards

<note type=â€â€>

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Â

Â

Â

Â

Form

A designation of a particular physical presentation of a resource.

E.g., electronic,Â print, microform.

Prefer controlled list and specify authority

<physicalDescription><form>

Mime Type

Identification of the electronic format type, or the data representation of the resource.

e.g., image/gif, text/plain.

Â

<physicalDescription><internetMediaType>

Extent

A statement of the number and specific material of the units of the resource that express physical extent.

Â

Â

<physicalDescription><extent>

Digital Origin

Designation of the source of a digital file important to its creation, use and management.

Â

Use MODS controlled values: E.g., born digital, reformatted digital.

<physicalDescription><digitalOrigin>

FREQUENCY INFORMATION

Â

Â

Â

Â

Frequency

A statement of a publication frequency

.

Use of a controlled form will allow for automated processing or filtering

<originInfo><frequency>

RELATED ITEMS*

Â

Type indicates relationship to resource described.[1]?

Â

May be a textual note or parsed into relevant subelements

Designate type of relationship if a specific type

Â

Collection Title

Parent resource of the resource being described; collection of which the resource is a part.

Â

Â

<relatedItem type=â€hostâ€>

Constituent Part

A unit that is a part of the resource described.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Â

<relatedItem type=â€constituentâ€>

Series

Series within which the resource is associated.

Â Â Â Â Â Â

Â

<relatedItem type=â€seriesâ€>

Translation of

Original resource that the resource being described translates.

Â

Â

<relatedItem type=â€otherVersionâ€>

Different Format

The same resource in another physical format, e.g.,Â the original of a digitized resource.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Â

<relatedItem type=â€otherFormatâ€>

Preceding Title

A resource which is a predecessor to the resource described.

Â

Â

Â

Succeeding Title

A resource which is a successor to the resource described.

Â

Â

Â

Non-specific

Other related item.

Â

Â

<relatedItem>

Â - Title

Title of the related item.

Â

Â

<relatedItem><titleInfo><title>

Â - URL

URL of the related item.

Â

Â

<relatedItem><titleInfo><identifier>

Â -Â Grouping Identifier

Identifier of related item.

May be used to group together records for various purposes

Â

<extension><relatedItem type=â€recordGroupâ€><identifier type=â€recordGroupIDâ€>

AUDIENCE INFORMATION

Â

Â

Â

Â

Audience

A description of the level of the audience for which the resource is intended.

Â

Â

<targetAudience>

LOCATION INFORMATION

Â

Â

Â

Â

Institution

The institution or repository that holds the resource or where it is available.

Â

If code, specify authority, e.g., MARC Org. codes.

<location><physicalLocation>

<location><physicalLocation authority=â€â€>

- Shelf locator

Shelfmark or other shelving designation that indicates the location identifier for a copy.

Â

Â

<location><shelfLocator>

Electronic Location

The resolvable Uniform Resource Identifier for the resource if available online.

Â

Prefer persistent locations if possible.

<location><url>

RIGHTS INFORMATION

Â

Â

Â

Â

Rights

Information about restrictions imposed on access to a resource.

Â

Â

<accessCondition>

IDENTIFIERS*

Â

Â

Â

Â

Identifier

A unique standard number or code that distinctively identifies a resource.

A persistent URI or handle goes here

Indicate type of identifier, e.g., ISBN, DOI, URI.

<identifier type=â€â€> e.g.

<identifier type=â€hdlâ€> etc.

RECORD INFORMATION

Â

Â

Â

Â

Record Identifier

System control number assigned by the organization creating, using, or distributing the record.

Â

Â

<recordInfo><recordIdentifier>

Record Creation Date

Date on which the record was first created

Â

Specify form if appropriate, e.g., ISO 8601.

<recordInfo><recordCreationDate>

Record Change Date

Date and time record was changed.

Â

Specify form if appropriate, e.g., ISO 8601.

<recordInfo><recordChangeDate>

Record Creator

Institution that created the record

Â

If code, specify authority, e.g., MARC Org. codes

<recordInfo><recordContentSource>

Record Origin

Information about the origin, or provenance of the MODS record. This might include what methods were used to prepare it (machine generated or human prepared), or what transformations had been applied.

Use to show transformation from original source format and metadata remediation applied.

Use controlled values for machine processing.

<recordInfo><recordOrigin>

Language of Cataloging

Language that is used in the record for the subject heading, notes, abstract, etc., (elements that are not transcribed from the item).

Â

Specify authority list, if appropriate, e.g., ISO 639-2.

<recordInfo><languageOfCataloging>

Â


Additional considerations

Â

Administrative metadata

The information below maps to metadata that can be expressed in the administrative metadata section of the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS), which is a widely adopted method of including this sort of metadata for digital objects.

Â Â

Structural: how the digital object is structured supports presentation. For digital objects this commonly is included in the structMap section of METS if using METS as a container for metadata and links to digital objects. XSLT stylesheets can be applied to present the digital object on the web using this model.

Structural metadata is also used for more complex whole/part relationships than is conveyed through relationship descriptive elements.

Â

Technical: whether more detailed technical information about digital objects than commonly is used in descriptive elements needs to be considered. Again there is a METS approach here using either constructs defined in METS or adding PREMIS or format-specific technical metadata section to a METS container.

Â

Rights: This also maps to METS, but there is a placeholder for such information in the above element list which could be more granular than what is listed above.

Â

Other

Â

Additional groupings:Â Applications (e.g., American Memory) have used locally defined collection IDs? for additional groupings. The preferred method prospectively will be to use <extension><relatedItem type=â€recordGroupâ€><identifier type=â€recordGroupID=â€>

Â

Language: may need to specify language of the content of the metadata by element (able to do this in MODS)

Â

URIs?: content may be a URI that supplies the value or supplements the value. (some solutions are already in MODS; the MODS Editorial Committee has approved a technique for a URI from a controlled vocabulary)

Â

Identifiers: there is a need to be clear about what the identifier(s) represent.

Â



[1]? Used for bibliographic/intellectual relationships and also for groupings that are used by applications to indicate relationships between resources. LC uses a collection ID which may not be displayed to the public for some types of groupings.
https://kennison.name/work/wiki/AmericanMemory
kennison.name
crawl=CC-MAIN-2019-18
45793
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:UIWYVOE33DRITFSY7LHA4SMVIB6QT6ZN
<urn:uuid:bfff383a-74a1-4f85-9386-d2299d3b911c>
2019-04-24T12:50:03Z
207.38.86.244
application/xhtml+xml
sha1:P5CBORZYBXAWKQZCUYVGN6TIFEEZ3ZTN
<urn:uuid:47f447b1-bc27-406b-9322-f6554dbc46cc>
https://kennison.name/work/wiki/AmericanMemory
response
<urn:uuid:688ee4eb-b62c-42dd-9caf-614b1304c591>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-18
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for April 2019
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-144-201-71.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/