Dublin Core

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

Editing resource metadata in Dublin core template; note asterisks next to mandatory fields

Identifier

In Dublin Core, an identifier is "an unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context. Recommended best practice is to identify the resource by means of a string conforming to a formal identification system."

Title

"A name given to the resource. Typically, a Title will be a name by which the resource is formally known."

Creator, publisher, contributor and/or dates

Click the blue Add new link on the left

Enter data into event dialogue box

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) 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 "creator 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).

Name, role/event, dates

When you first open the dates of creation area information area, the list displays the existing event entries.

To delete an event, click the delete icon next to it in the list.

To register a new event, click the "add new" link. ICA-AtoM opens a pop-up dialog box for data entry.

Name/add new name

Select the creator's name from the drop-down menu (generated from the names of all existing authority records).

If the creator's name does not appear in the menu, use the "add new name" field to enter the name.

If you select a name from the drop-down list, ICA-AtoM will ignore any text you may have entered in the "add new creator name" field.

Note that you can leave both of these fields blank; in this case, the unit will inherit creator information from its parent record.

At the highest level of description, you should always include the creator; the "administrative/biographical history" is drawn from the creator's authority record.

Lower levels inherit creator information from higher levels: use only if the creator is different at the lower and higher levels.

Event type

Select the type of event from the drop-down menu.

The value list is drawn from the event types taxonomy and can be edited by system administrators and editors (some terms in this taxonomy, however, are locked because they are accessed by the software code).

Place

Select the place of creation if relevant.

As of the current version of ICA-AtoM you cannot directly add a new place term from this pop-up box.

To add new place terms, you must edit the places taxonomy; for editing taxonomies, see add a new term.

Year/end year

Enter the start and end year of the date range.

ICA-AtoM uses these values for sorting and searching purposes.

Use only four-digit numbers.

If the start and end years are the same, enter only in the "year" field and leave the "end year" 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).

Do not use any qualifiers here (e.g. "ca.") or typographical symbols (e.g. "[194?]") to express uncertainty (see step 4).

Date display

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 "creation year" and "end year" are used internally for database searching and sorting purposes, this field is for display purposes.

Note

Enter any additional information relating to the event.

Click the Submit button. The event will now appear in the list. Note that the event is not registered to the system until you click the Save button; once saved, the name will appear as a link.

Type

"The nature or genre of the resource. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the DCMI Type Vocabulary [DCMITYPE]. To describe the file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource, use the Format element."

ICA-AtoM provides a data entry field using a rop-down menu to select Type derived from the Dublin Core types taxonomy.

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.

For more on editing terms and adding to taxonomies, see add/edit terms.

For more information on the Dublin Core type taxonomy, see http://dublincore.org/documents/dcmi-type-vocabulary/

Add new child levels

See add a new archival description.

Format

"The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource. Examples of dimensions include size and duration. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the list of Internet Media Types [MIME]."

Description

"An account of the resource. Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, a table of contents, a graphical representation, or a free-text account of the resource."

Relation

"A related resource. Recommended best practice is to identify the related resource by means of a string conforming to a formal identification system."

To link a resource to a parent level you must create the resource as a [Glossary#Child level|child-level]] description of another resource. See add a new archival description. "Relation" in the Dublin Core edit page is a free-text field for describing other types of relationships.

Language

"A language of the resource. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as RFC 4646."

ICA-AtoM implements this as a drop-down menu. The user may select as many languages as desired.

Click on the field and select the language from the rop-down menu. To narrow the list of choices, enter the first few letters of the language.

Subject

"The topic of the resource. Typically, the subject will be represented using keywords, key phrases, or classification codes. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary. To describe the spatial or temporal topic of the resource, use the Coverage 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.

The values in the subject drop-down menu are drawn from the subjects taxonomy. ICA-AtoM does not ship with any pre-loaded subject terms.

This taxonomy can be edited by administrators and editors on the list taxonomy terms page.

If the subject you want to use does not appear on the menu, you (or your system administrator or editor) must first add it to the taxonomy.

For more on editing terms and adding to taxonomies, see add/edit terms.

Coverage

"The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant."

Click on the "Coverage - spatial" 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.

The values in the this drop-down menu are drawn from the places taxonomy. ICA-AtoM does not ship with any pre-loaded place terms.

This taxonomy can be edited by administrators and editors on the list taxonomy terms page.

If the place you want to use does not appear on the menu, you (or your system dministrator or editor) must first add it to the taxonomy.

For more on editing terms and adding to taxonomies, see add/edit terms.

Source

"A related resource from which the described resource is derived. The described resource may be derived from the related resource in whole or in part. Recommended best practice is to identify the related resource by means of a string conforming to a formal identification system."

Rights

"Information about rights held in and over the resource. Typically, rights information includes a statement about various property rights associated with the resource, including intellectual property rights."

Repository

Select a repository only at the highest level of description; leave this field blank at the lower levels if they are all held by the same repository. It is important to remember this because if a repository 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 repository does not appear in this list, you can type it in and a new repository record will be created.