MODS

Main Page > User manual > Add/edit content > Add/edit archival descriptions > MODS elements

The MODS standard, maintained by the US Library of Congress Network Development and MARC Standards Office, is available at Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS). Currently ICA-AtoM supports the Digital Library Federation second level of adoption for MODS (see DLF Aquifer MODS Guidelines Levels of Adoption).

Editing resource metadata in MODS template

Identifier

Identifier corresponds to the "identifier" top level element. MODS suggests these values: "hdl, doi, isbn, isrc, ismn, issn, issue number, istc, lccn, local, matrix number, music publisher, music plate, sici, uri, upc, videorecording identifier, stock number."

Title

Title corresponds to "title" sub-element in "titleInfo" top level element.

Names and origin info (incuding dates)

These fields correspond to "name" and "originInfo" top level elements.

Events in ICA-AtoM

ICA-AtoM manages date ranges as events that links an actor (corporate body, person, or family), described in an authority record, to an archival unit in a type of role (e.g. creator, publisher, contributor, collector, broadcaster, etc.) over a certain period of time. At the highest level of description, the archival unit should always be associated with its creator over the date range of the material. At lower levels of description, enter the date range only to inherit the creator from the higher level (i.e. a description will inherit the creator if "Actor name" is left blank). At any level you can associate a description with multiple creators over different date ranges. At any level you can assign multiple types of relations; this will be primarily useful at the item level (e.g. date of publication vs creation).

Add a new event

1. 

   Click the blue Add new link on the left
   Under "Names and origin info" click the blue "Add new" link to add a new event.
2. 

   Enter data into event dialogue box
   Enter data in the dialogue box as described below. When you are done, click "Submit".

Actor name

In the "Actor name" field enter the first few letters of the the actor's name. A list of names will appear in the drop-down menu (generated from the names of existing authority records). If the name does not appear in the menu, type the name and a new authority record will be created.

You can leave the "Actor name" field blank. Lower levels inherit creator information from higher levels: use only if the creator is different at the lower and higher levels. At the highest level of description, you should always include the creator.

Event type

Select the type of event from the drop-down menu: creation, contribution, publication, accumulation, etc.

The value list for this field is drawn from the event types taxonomy and can be edited by system administrators and editors.

Place

Select the place of creation, contribution, publication, accumulation etc., if relevant, by typing in the first few letters and then selecting the place from the drop-down menu. If the place name does not appear on the list, type it in and a new place term will be created (note that this works only if you have taxonomy edit permission).

Date/End date

Enter the Date (i.e. start year) and End date. Do not use any qualifiers here (e.g. "ca.") or typographical symbols (e.g. "[194?]") to express uncertainty (see "Date display", below). If the start and end years are the same, enter data only in the "Date" field and leave the "End date" blank.

Complete at lower levels of description even if you are leaving the creator name field blank (e.g. when describing a series, you do not need to repeat the creator name from the fonds description, but you do need to enter the date range of the series).

Date display

If desired, enter the date range as you want it to appear in view mode. Add any additional text to qualify date range (e.g. "ca. 1940-1980" or "[1940]-1980, predominant 1973-1980").

Whereas "Date" and "End date" are used internally for database searching and sorting purposes, this field is for display purposes. However, if you do not enter anything into "Date display" the "Date" and "End date" will appear as a date range when the record is saved.

Event note

Enter any additional information relating to the event.

Type of resource

This field corresponds to the "typeOfResource" top level element. ICA-AtoM provides a data entry field using a drop-down menu to select type derived from the MODS resource type taxonomy based on the MODS list of enumerated values for this field. This taxonomy can be edited by administrators and editors on the list taxonomy terms page. If the term you want to use does not appear on the menu, you (or your system administrator or editor) must first add it to the taxonomy.

Add new child levels

See add a new archival description

Language

The language field corresponds to the "language" top level element. ICA-AtoM implements this as a drop-down menu. Click on the field and select the language from the drop-down menu; to narrow the list of choices, enter the first few letters of the language. Note that you can add as many languages as you like.

Subject

This field corresponds to the "subject" top level element. Click on the "Subject" field and select a term from the drop-down menu. You can narrow the list of choices by entering the first few letters of the term. If the subject term does not appear on the list, type it in and a new subject term will be created (note that this works only if you have taxonomy edit permission).

Access conditions

• Corresponds to "accessCondition" to level element.
• MODS suggests values: "restriction on access; use and reproduction."

Repository

This field is used for indicating which archival institution holds the record(s) being described. Select an archival institution only at the highest level of description; leave this field blank at the lower levels if they are all held by the same institution. It is important to remember this because if an institution is selected for the lower levels then these lower levels will all be displayed in the holdings area of an archival institution's context menu.

Click on the Repository field and select the archival institution that holds the archival material being described. The names are drawn from pre-existing archival institution records. You can narrow down the list of choices by typing in the first few letters of the name. If the name of the institution does not appear in this list, you can type it in and a new archival institution record will be created.