Metadata Guidelines

Owned by IT Department
Last updated: May 02, 2024 by Gabriela Zoller
24 min read

Created by Annabel Pinkney, Gabriela Zoller, Cathleen Lu, and Nicole Joniec

Introduction

This document provides specific guidelines for metadata assignment in the Digital Collections repository. The guidelines cover field definitions as well as content and style specifications for each metadata property. Minimum required fields, controlled authorities, input examples for common cases, and known exceptions are included.

Digitized materials requiring description come from Institute collecting departments: The Othmer Library, the Center for Oral History, the Eddleman Institute (Museum), and the Archives. Therefore, metadata fields were selected for their broad application to a variety of physical formats and informational content.

The metadata profile outlined below loosely complies with the Dublin Core metadata schema, though several other namespaces have been referenced. Metadata in the Digital Collections repository is preserved as a JSON relational database and is not preserved as discreet work-level documents (e.g., as a validated XML document). The fields below have been inspired by the definition and ranges of the referenced namespaces, however, no formal validation is performed.

Metadata in the Digital Collections repository database is converted to Dublin Core XML documents which are processed using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) and harvested as validated DPLA MAP XML documents by the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) on a quarterly basis.

Technical Note:
The Digital Collections repository application was built in Rails using the in-house developed toolkit, Kithe. Kithe comes out of experience in the Samvera community of open-source library-archives-museums digital collections and preservation work but is not a Samvera project. Kithe operates on a Postgres database, an open-source and widely used relational database management system. Information and documentation regarding the codebase and development of the application are stored in the Institute’s GitHub repository.

Namespaces Referenced

Namespaces are prefixes to metadata properties that indicate the scheme it is referencing. Namespaces prevent confusion about properties that may be used in more than one schema. The Science History Institute Metadata Guidelines reference properties using the following namespaces:

Content Standards

Institute Digital Collections metadata is primarily based on the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)’s element, qualifier, and term sets.
Other standards referenced include:

  • Collaborative Digitization Program (CDP) Dublin Core Metadata Best Practices, Version 2.1

  • Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS), 2nd Edition

  • Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Graphics)

  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Guide for the Use of the International System of Units

  • Society of American Archivists (SAA) Oral History Cataloging Manual

  • Tech 3293 (EBUCore), Version 1.7

  • World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) ISO 8601

 

General Input Guidelines 

The below list is a starting set of fields meant to be applicable across collection types. Customized fields for more specific collection and project needs can be added.

Capitalization

Use title case (ex: “The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog”) for formal and published titles and sentence case (ex: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”) for constructed and supplied titles. See Title for more specific examples. Enter acronyms in capital letters. The first letter of each field entry should be capitalized (ex: “Paint on metal”).

Punctuation

Avoid ending punctuation unless it is part of the content of the resource or in fields where full sentences are used (Description, Admin Notes).

Spelling

When transcribing a title or other information from a work, record inaccuracies or misspellings as they appear on the material, followed by the correction in brackets.

Abbreviations

In general, abbreviations for common grammatical Latin phrases (ex: et al., etc.), name prefixes and suffixes (ex: Dr., Jr.), units of measurement, and information recorded as is from an item are fine. Otherwise, avoid abbreviations if they could make the record unclear.

Character Encoding

Use Unicode encoding to input nonstandard characters and diacritics to ensure that the database will display and retrieve text correctly. A Unicode character table can be found here: http://www.utf8-chartable.de/.

For all other general usage guidelines not addressed in this section, refer to the CHF Style Manual. Use double spacing between paragraphs.

Metadata Application Profile

Title

Element

dcterms:title

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/title

Definition

The name of the work.

Required

Yes

Repeatable

No (Use Additional Title field when necessary)

Content Rules

Use a given title if available, otherwise, construct a brief descriptive title that uniquely identifies the work.

Examples

Design and Construction of Audion Amplifying Transformers, Radio and Audio Types

Figure 402. Jersey. Figure 403. Ayrshire. Figure 404. Bison

Bibliography on Albumen as a Mordant for Anilin [sic] Colors

Foreign Language Titles

Enter the title in the language of the original material if it can be entered in the Latin script. If an English translation is available, provide it in the following Additional Title field.

Tratado Instructivo, y Práctico Sobre el Arte de la Tintura

Testamentum Theorica

Duplicate Titles

Use dates to make the item title unique.

Letter from Max Bredig to Georg Bredig, May 1938

Letter from Max Bredig to Georg Bredig, April 1936

Oral History Interviews

Format Oral History titles according to the following formula:

Oral history interview with [interviewee name]

Oral history interview with Peter Baumann

Illegible Titles

Use brackets and a question mark around the indecipherable word(s).

Letter from [Sandreth?] to James Curtis Booth

Racist Terms in Given Titles

Title on a case-by-case basis. Preserve but contextualize creator-sourced original description when racism is an important context by addressing the title language in the Description field. OR Replace the offensive term with a bracketed alternative that uniquely identifies the work without using harmful terminology, and place the original title in the Description. See Appendix A for more information.

A Religious Dramatic Representation of the Power of the [Hindu] Goddess of Smallpox

Correspondence

Format correspondence titles according to the following formula:

[Letter/telegram/postcard/etc.] from [author] to [addressee]

Memo from John Bishop to Arnold O. Beckman

Letter from Dr. Charles M. Wetherill to James Curtis Booth, December 13, 1863

Partially Digitized Items

Use the work’s full, given title. Describe the digitization extent in the Description field.

Additional Title

Element

dcterms:title

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/title

Definition

An alternate name for the work.

Required

Yes, if applicable and known

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Use for additional or varying form of the title if it contributes to further identification of the work. Also record subtitles and English translations of the title here.

Examples

Title: Empfehlenswerte Technische Werk aus dem Verlage von Julius Springer
Additional Title: Recommended Technical Works from the Publishers of Julius Springer

Title: Neoprene A Remarkable Engineering Material
Additional Title: A Short History of Neoprene, A Chemical Triumph

External Identifier

Element

dcterms:identifier

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/identifier

Definition

A reference to the physical work, consisting of a character or number string that identifies the resource.

Required

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Library Materials

  • Sierra Bibliographic Number

  • Sierra Item Number when there is more than one copy AND bib number.

Archival Materials

  • Sierra Bibliographic Number

  • Accession Number

  • ArchiveSpace Reference Number

Museum Materials

  • PastPerfect Object ID

  • Accession Number

Oral History Interviews

  • Sierra Bibliographic Number

  • Oral History Interview Number

The external ID does not necessarily have to be unique, but it should point to a source record. Bib Numbers automatically generate a link to the library catalog.

Examples

Bib Number: b10337957

Item Number: i11201022

Object ID: FA 2000.001.284

Accession Number: 2008.043

ArchivesSpace Ref Number: aspace_0396a206bcecfe8a2a70b7f59e7af082

Oral History Interview Number: 0556

Creator

Element

dc11:creator

URI

http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/creator

Definition

Any individual, group, or organization responsible for the work, either primarily or auxiliary, if relevant.

Required

Yes, if known.

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Input the agent’s name from a controlled vocabulary when possible. This field currently auto-suggests FAST headings (from Library of Congress Authorities). If a FAST heading does not exist for the person or entity associated with the work, search the Library of Congress Name Authority File.

If an agent’s name does not have a controlled heading, format the name as:

[Last name], [First Name] [Initial]., [Dates]

Follow this formula to record creator names exactly as they are identified in the work, even if the name is ambiguous or brief, such as “Mr. B,” “A. E. V.,” or “The Author of the Pale Rose.”

For detailed guidance on creating name headings, see Creating Authority Headings. If you have created a new name heading, queue it for NACO authority creation at P:\Othmer Library\Cataloging\Name Authorities to be established.xlsx

OR enter the organization or group’s official title.

Denote specific roles (definitions below) when possible; otherwise, Creator of Work or Contributor may be used as default roles.

If the creator is unknown, leave the creator field blank. If the creator is designated as anonymous, enter “Anonymous” into the field.

Avoid typos, extra spaces, and inconsistencies. These create new local headings.

Addressee

A person, family, or organization to whom the correspondence in a work is addressed; Recipient

After

Qualifier used for a work by an unknown creator who has created a copy of a known work of the named artist; Implies that an unknown artist made a deliberate attempt to copy a known artist; Also applied to works that are copies of a work in another form (such as a painting that mimics a scene first depicted as an engraving, e.g., The Bald-headed Alchemist)

Artist

A person, family, or organization responsible for creating a work by conceiving, and implementing, an original graphic design, drawing, painting, etc.

Attributed name

An author, artist, etc., relating him/her to a resource for which there is or once was substantial authority for designating that person as author, creator, etc. of the work indicative of provenance

Author

A person, family, or organization responsible for creating a work that is primarily textual in content, regardless of media type (e.g., printed text, spoken word, electronic text, tactile text) or genre (e.g., poems, novels, screenplays, blogs). Use also for persons, etc., creating a new work by paraphrasing, rewriting, or adapting works by another creator such that the modification has substantially changed the nature and content of the original or changed the medium of expression

Contributor

A person, family, or organization responsible for making contributions to the resource. This includes those whose work has been contributed to a larger work, such as an anthology, serial publication, or other compilation of individual works. Use a more specific role if available.

Creator of Work

A person or organization responsible for the intellectual or artistic content of a resource

Editor

A person, family, or organization contributing to a resource by revising or elucidating the content, e.g., adding an introduction, notes, or other critical matter. An editor may also prepare a resource for production, publication, or distribution. For major revisions, adaptations, etc., that substantially change the nature and content of the original work, resulting in a new work, use author

Engraver

A person or organization who cuts letters, figures, etc. on a surface, such as a wooden or metal plate used for printing

Interviewee

A person, family, or organization responsible for creating or contributing to a resource by responding to an interviewer, usually a reporter, pollster, or some other information-gathering agent

Interviewer

A person, family, or organization responsible for creating or contributing to a resource by acting as an interviewer, reporter, pollster, or some other information-gathering agent

Manufacturer

A person or organization responsible for printing, duplicating, casting, etc. a resource

Manner of

Qualifier used for a work by an unknown creator whose style or elements of whose style are close to the style of the named artist, but whose work does not seem to be a deliberate copy of the named artist, and who generally lived in a period after the named artist, e.g., Alchemist with Monkey (See note in Past Perfect describing the painting as “Close to Gerard Thomas”). A synonym for “follower of.”

Photographer

A person, family, or organization responsible for creating a photographic work

Printer

A person, family, or organization involved in manufacturing a manifestation of printed text, notated music, etc., from type or plates, such as a book, newspaper, magazine, broadside, score, etc

Printer of Plates

A person or organization who prints illustrations from plates.

Publisher

A person or organization responsible for publishing, releasing, or issuing a resource

School of

Qualifier used for a work by an unknown creator whose style is influenced by the named artist or architect or by the associates of the named artist, who is living at the same time or shortly after the named artist, but is not known to be a pupil or direct follower of the named artist (e.g., school of Rembrandt); When applied to a particular painter, this may either mean that the work in question was painted in that artist's studio by one of his pupils or assistants (apparently with a certain amount of the master's guidance), or that it is an imitation or copy of his or her work.

  • The Alchemist (See note in Past Perfect describing painting as “Version of Teniers original in Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain”)

A person, family, or organization sponsoring some aspect of a resource, e.g., funding research, or sponsoring an event. Used primarily for oral history interviews.

Date

Element

dcterms:date

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/date

Definition

Date(s) of creation or publication.

Required

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Enter precise dates in the Start field following W3C International Standards.

Three levels of granularity can be used for precise dates:

year (YYYY)
year-month (YYYY-MM)
year-month-day (YYYY- MM-DD)

For date ranges or uncertainties, accepted formats are:

YYYY-YYYY
before YYYY
after YYYY
circa YYYY
YYY0 decade
YY00 century
Undated*

*Undated should be used ONLY when no other date is available or can be inferred)

For inferring the date of an undated item, use clues in the item itself or contextual evidence to infer a decade or century. If even those fail you, consider:

  • using life dates of the creator as start and end date and enter as YYYY-YYYY. If the creator is still living, use: after [birth year].

  • Using the accession date or current date, and enter as: before YYYY

W3C International Standards correspond to the Gregorian calendar. For dates expressed in alternative formats or systems, record the original value as is in “Note”, which will display in parentheses after the W3C date.

If multiple dates are associated with a work, use the note field to clarify what each date represents.

Examples

1776-07-04

circa 1920

1860s (decade) [input as 1860 decade]

1600s (century) [use for 17th century – input as 1600 century]

1496 (MCDXCVI)

1998 (Spring)

Place

Element

dcterms:spatial

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/spatial

Definition

Location of origin for the work.

Required

Yes, if known.

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Insert geographic regions including neighborhoods, cities, states, or countries. This field currently auto-suggests FAST headings. If a FAST heading does not exist for the place associated with the work, search Library of Congress Authorities for an appropriate heading.

Specify the type of place (Creation, Interview, Manufacture, or Publication) in the dropdown.

Places depicted or referenced in a work are topical and should be cataloged as Subjects.

Oral History interviews that take place at an organizational entity such as a university may include the entity named in the Place field followed by the geographic region:
Place of interview: Rockefeller University
New York (State)--New York

If the place is unknown, use a broad estimate of the location, such as the country or state name of creation for works in which the city of orginin is unknown, or leave the field blank if this is not possible.

Use the modern name for the geographic region as is found in controlled headings. Add information regarding historic place names or place name changes in the work’s description.

Place of manufacture

The place of manufacture (e.g., printing, duplicating, casting, etc.) of a resource in a published form

Place of publication

The place where a resource is published

Place of interview

A place where an event such as a conference or a concert took place

Place of Creation

The place of production (e.g., inscription, fabrication, construction, etc.) of a resource in an unpublished form

Format

Element

dc11:type

URI

http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/type

Definition

Format in which the work is expressed.

Required

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Select the content type(s) that best reflects the original work and not the digital resource.

Terms for this field come from the DCMI Type Vocabulary.
Image: A visual representation other than text.

Moving Image: A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession.

Physical Object: An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance.

Sound: A resource primarily intended to be heard.

Text: A resource consisting primarily of words for reading.

Examples

Photograph: Image

Bibliographic resource without illustrations: Text.

Bibliographic material with a substantial number of engravings or other graphics: Text and Image.

Scientific instruments: Physical Object

Photograph of a scientific instrument: Image

Genre

Element

edm:hasType

URI

http://www.europeana.eu/schemas/edm/hasType

Definition

Concept describing the nature of the work, covering aspects such as content, form, function, physical character, style, or technique.

Required

Yes

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Input the genre term(s) which best describes what the work is, not what it is about.

In general, use broad values, accompanied by more specific values as necessary to aid in searching. Specific values, such as Engraving, Glassware, or Slides must be accompanied by their corresponding general term such as Prints, Artifacts, or Photographs respectively.

If the desired term is not available, contact the Digital Collections Librarian. When requesting a new genre, the following considerations must be met:

  • The term must be broadly applicable to the collections (upwards of 10 records minimum)

  • Term must be taken from a controlled vocabulary. FAST genre terms are preferred. If a FAST genre term is not available, terms may be used from FAST topics or AAT.

  • New Genres and genre vocabulary sources should be documented in the Digital Collections wiki and this document.

An object should not have more than 3 genre terms.

Genre Terms

Advertisements
Artifacts
Business correspondence
Catalogs
Charts, diagrams, etc.
Chemistry sets
Clothing and dress
Drawings
Electronics
Encyclopedias and dictionaries
Engravings
Ephemera
Etchings
Figurines
Glassware
Handbooks and manuals
Illustrated works

Implements utensils etc.
Lithographs
Manuscripts
Maps
Medical instruments and apparatus
Minutes (Records)
Molecular models
Money
Negatives (Photographs)
Oral histories
Paintings
Pamphlets
Personal correspondence
Pesticides
Photographs
Photomechanical prints

Plastics
Portraits
Postage stamps Postcards
Press releases
Prints
Publications
Rare Books
Records (Documents)
Sample books
Scientific apparatus and instruments
Slides
Specimens
Stereographs
Textile Fabrics
Vessels (containers)
Woodcuts

Medium

Element

dcterms:medium

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/medium

Definition

The materials or physical carrier of the work.

Required

For museum objects

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Materials are automatically suggested from the Getty’s Art & Architecture Thesaurus.

Input terms in the order of which the substance is most to least prevalent in the object being described.

Bibliographic works and archival works consisting of printed text on paper do not need to use this field. Bibliographic works with unique components such as parchment, metal fasteners, or dye samples may include this field.

Examples

celluloid

dye

nylon

VHS

Extent

Element

dcterms:extent

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/extent

Definition

The size or duration of the original work.

Required

No, but recommended

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Input numerical values up to two decimal places. If the value is less than one, precede the decimal point with a zero.

Specify dimensional sides as W (width) x H (height) or L (length) x D (depth) or Circ. (circumference) for rounded 3D objects.

Use metric units of measurement when applicable and lowercase letters for units of measurement.

For Bibliographic items, specify the number of pages in the physical work, regardless of how many digitized pages are included in the record, as # pages and the height of the book as # cm H.

For audiovisual content include the total running time in hours, minutes, and seconds as #h #m #s.

For archival works with several items included in one digital record, specify the item belonging to each measurement using parenthesis after the measurement in all lowercase. Also specify the number of items included.
2 items
23 cm W x 10 cm H (envelope)
20 cm W x 25 cm H (letter)

For archival works with over 5 items, you may optionally input the largest item dimensions, followed by (and smaller).

Examples

Archival Document: 18 cm W x 32 cm H

Cylindrical Museum Object: 80 cm L x 22 cm Circ.

Book: 116 pages

23 cm H

Oral History: 60 pages

1h 49m 23s

Video: 20m 39s

Language

Element

dc11:language

URI

http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/language

Definition

The language of the intellectual content of the work.

Required

Yes, if applicable

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Input the language(s) of the work being described, even if it is a translation or if the original is in a different language.

Leave blank for photographs for any works without a lingual or textual element.

This field will autocomplete languages from a local vocabulary (see below). If the desired language is not available, chose a term from ISO-639 language codes.

Available Language Terms:

Afrikaans
Arabic
Bulgarian
Catalan
Chinese
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Esperanto
Estonian
Finnish
French
Galician

German
German, Middle High
Greek, Ancient (to 1453)
Greek, Modern (1453-)
Hebrew
Hungarian
Icelandic
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Latin
Latvian
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese

Romani
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Swazi
Swedish
Tahitian
Tereno
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Yiddish

Description

Element

dcterms:description

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/description

Definition

Summary, highlights, or other contextual information about the work.

Required

No, but recommended

Repeatable

No

Content Rules

Use full sentences for descriptive text. Enter any specialized or additional information not included in other fields and consider using keywords that users may search for. Include a description of the physical qualities of the object when applicable, and an explanation of any graphic qualities in consideration of visually impaired users.

Color print advertisement for Dow Aromatics. The advertisement features a mixed imagery illustration of a woman's face, a dancing couple, a hand holding a bar of soap, white roses, a perfume bottle, a beaker and a seated bull smelling a bouquet of flowers (a possible reference to the children's book The Story of Ferdinand, published in 1936). The accompanying text describes Dow Chemical's work in the field of synthetic aromatic chemicals and flavorings. The text also notes that Dow is developing synthetic food flavors to replace materials that are no longer widely available. Notably, the advertisement was produced during World War II and bears the Company's wartime tagline ‘Dow: Chemicals Indispensable to Industry and Victory.

When names of individuals are mentioned, include birth/death dates after name when possible. If dates are unknown, write nothing.

Mary A. Booth, a relative of James Curtis Booth (1810-1888), writes to Booth following a letter from Marcia B. Booth of May 4.

Indicate the extent of the work that has been digitized.

Select figures have been digitized from this work.

Work has been digitized in its entirety.

Digitized content includes…

Italicize published titles using <i></i> and follow with the date of publication behind when known.

Text and illustration from page 479 of the volume <i>New Catechism of Electricity</i> (1896) detailing the Morse code alphabet and numerals used to communicate via telegraph.

Only do not include a description if there is no other verified or known information about the work that is not already conveyed in other metadata fields.

Cite and link to any external sources used to inform the description in the Administrative Note field. Use resources such as Wikipedia freely. Only spend enough time on research to provide enough context to the work as is appropriate.

Harmful Language

When materials containing harmful language or depictions are to be described, write in an objective voice and avoid neutral or passive voices; focus on the humanity of the subjects or situation being described; refrain from writing flowery, valorizing descriptions of collection creators; use accurate and strong language where appropriate; consider the needs of the audience, including stakeholder communities not just academic scholars; and be mindful of individual biases.
See Appendix A for more information.

Booklet corresponding to a radio broadcast program created by the National Paint, Varnish, and Lacquer Association. The booklet describes the origin of paintbrush bristles beginning by explaining how bristles were processed from the coarse hair grown by hogs into paintbrushes in China, then how to properly use and care for a paintbrush. The booklet misidentifies "Chu Chang" as the Chinese phrase for bristles, belittling the Chinese language. A more accurate Chinese translation is 硬毛 (yìngmáo). Contains racially stereotyped imagery and descriptions. Includes small, stylized illustrations throughout and decorated covers.

Archival Works

Describe the work and creator, provide contextual information, and provide information about the collection. Use finding aid descriptions and notes when possible.

Postcard featuring a hand-drawn illustrated depiction of the descent of French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin (1769-1823) The Official Aeronaut of France, Garnerin staged regular public demonstrations and tests of his designs at Parc Monceau in Paris. This postcard is part of a set originally collected in a scrapbook entitled <i>Album Gravures et Cartes-Postales: Vieux Paris Types Petits Métiers et Cris De La Rue</i> (1909).

Mass Digitization Descriptive Practices

For works ingested en masse as a part of a large archival collection, a brief sentence describing the work is acceptable.

James Curtis Booth (1810-1888) declares his intention to resign his position as Assistant State Surveyor to devote his time to chemistry.

Bibliographic Works

Describe the author, publisher (when applicable), the context of the book’s creation (when applicable), the content of the book, and the extent to which the book is digitized.

Johann Gottlob von Kurr (1798-1870) published <i>Das Mineralreich in Bildern</i> as a professor of mineralogy and botany at the Stuttgart Polytechnic Institute in 1858. Digitized in entirety, this first edition English translation of the German <i>Das Mineralreich in Bildern</i> consists of two sections. The first is an introduction including topics such as the formation of crystals and chemical reactions of crystals. Of particular note is a five-page table of the chemical elements (pp. 7-11), consisting of two parts: I. Metalloids, nonmetallic elements; and II. Metals. The second section is devoted to the description of various mineral groups including precious stones, hornblende and augitic minerals, felspathic minerals, micaceous minerals, zeolitic minerals, calcareous minerals, and various salts and compounds. The final pages of the book contain twenty-four lithograph plates depicting crystalline structures and mineral forms. The plates are hand-colored, using metallic finishes to create a lustrous effect.

Rare Books

Write according to the same guidelines as other bibliographic materials. Rare books will often require more research. Contact the rare book librarian for review after the description is written.

Child works

Describe the content of the work and include a brief description of the parent work.

Figure 20. Furnace, Round Iron, very useful.
Figure 21. Furnace, Dr. Black's.
Figure 22. Furnace, on Professor Brande's Principle, made to order, price according to size.
Figure 23. Pair of large Pepy's Copper Gas-holders, suitable for lecturer's.
These illustrations are part of Palmer's New Catalogue by Edward Palmer (1803-1872), regarded as the earliest, freely-accessible sales catalog of commercially available chemicals and scientific apparatus. The catalog provides insight into the costs and considerations of equipping laboratories during the early Victorian period. Featuring 292 engraved figures, the catalog is digitized in its entirety.”

Museum Objects

Description may be taken from Past Perfect record entries and adapted to fit Digital Collections Standards.

Teddy Ruxpin is an animatronic children's toy in the form of a talking 'Illiop', a creature that looks like a bear. The bear's mouth and eyes move while "reading" stories played on an audiotape cassette deck built into its back. Conventional Compact Cassettes carry two audio tracks for stereo sound reproduction. Teddy Ruxpin cassettes use the right track for audio and the left track for a control data stream. The data stream controls servomotors that move the eyes and mouth. Digitized content includes the Teddy Ruxpin animatronic bear, two cassette tapes, an instruction manual, a warranty card, and the front and rear covers of three accompanying stories.
Worlds of Wonder, or WoW, was an American toy company founded in 1985 by former Atari sales president Don Kingsborough, and former Atari employee Mark Robert Goldberg. Its founding was inspired by the Teddy Ruxpin prototype that became its launch product.

Oral Histories

The description should be copied directly from the abstract included in the oral history front matter. Edit to include the named individual’s birth/death dates and to italicize any publication titles.

Photographs

Attempt to name all pictured individuals and provide a description of the scene.

Dyeing technicians in the Customer Service and Quality Control Laboratory at the Althouse Chemical plant in Reading, Pennsylvania. The technicians are seen using skein dyeing equipment, typically employed either to test quality control of plant production lots or treat final research and development samples. The technician at left is Marion Griffith.

Inscription

Element

ecrm:E34_Inscription

URI

http://erlangen-crm.org/091216/E34.Inscription

Definition

Text on a work that is captioned, dedicated, or inscribed.

Required

Yes, if applicable

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Specify inscription location and transcribe the text exactly as is on the work, including capturing misspellings, cross-outs, or other anomalies as they appear.

Use non-bibliographic terms like “front” and “back” instead of “recto” or “verso”

Inscriptions should follow the same guidelines as Transcriptions. See Appendix B for Transcription Guidelines.

Examples

(Inside front cover) “To my friend D. Othmer”

(Front bottom left) “John Dalton was here.”

Subject

Element

dc11:subject

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/subject

Definition

Topical terms describing the “aboutness” of the work.

Required

Yes, at least one.

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

This field currently auto-suggests FAST headings (from Library of Congress Authorities). If a FAST heading does not exist for the person or entity associated with the work, search Library of Congress Subject Headings.

Use subjects to answer what, who, when, and where the work is about. Subject headings may include topics, events, geographic locations, people, and organizations/institutions.

Capture the essence or subject of the work. Focus on the “about-ness” of the work rather than the “of-ness.” For example, an aerial photograph of the Dow Chemical Company includes the subject headings:

Industries
Dow Chemical Company
Michigan--Tittabawassee River
Not the subject headings
Aerial photographs
Aerial views

When the form of the work is not conveyed sufficiently within the Genre field and if its physical manifestation is of substantial consequence to the informative value of the work, use subjects to indicate what form or genre the work is an instance of, as “Aerial views” above.

Be forthcoming with terms that highlight the involvement of traditionally underrepresented groups. Use subject headings to highlight any themes of prejudice or othering.

The work Aid to American Scholars: Move to Help Refugees Evokes Plea for the Domestic Product includes subject headings which encompass the anti-immigrant sentiments expressed in the work including

Nationalism

Nativism

Xenophobia

Include both general and specific terms, where applicable.

Scientists
Women Scientists

Do not rely solely on FAST or LCSH when creating subject headings if they are harmful to the people they describe. Use local alternatives to known harmful headings listed in Appendix A.

Provenance

Element

dcterms:provenance

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/provenance

Definition

The history of the ownership and transmission of an object, including previous locations of work.

Required

Yes, if applicable

Repeatable

No

Content Rules

Applies to Museum works, Archival objects, and Rare Books.

Museum

This style pattern was developed by Nicole Cook for the Science History Institute. It is a hybrid of the provenance style guidelines used by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and the Getty Center, Los Angeles.

  • List provenance information in chronological order from earliest to most recent (present day) with supporting evidence.

  • When specific years are not known, attempt to establish a likely date range. Use clear terms such as “circa,” “after,” “before,” and/or “prior to” when applicable.

  • Use clear and specific “common sense” language.

  • Separate changes or gaps in provenance with a line break. Indicate descent within the same family or institution with a semicolon and no line break.
     When a work stays in the same family through descent, or when it remains in the same institution but the institution changes name or location, this is considered an unbroken provenance line.

  • For additional notes on supporting evidence or documentation, place a numbered note in brackets and then add a notes section below the main listings.
     Where line breaks occur to signify a change in ownership, insert another space to create defined sections for readability. Show notes from the rest of the information using the word “Notes:” on its own line. This formatting allows for “show notes” feature to work when copying provenance over to the Digital Collections site.

  • When provenance cannot be confirmed, qualify the listing with the terms “possibly” or “probably.”

  • Represent art dealers and galleries in [brackets]. Represent auction sales, associated sales and additional information about buyers and sellers in (parentheses). Nest parentheses when indicating additional information about buyers and sellers within an auction sale.

Rare Books and Archives

Use a narrative form to include information about donors or auctions when applicable. Follow same general principles as museum objects, listing provenance information in chronological order from earliest to most recent and using line breaks to signify a change in ownership.

Examples

The Alchemist Object ID: FA 2000.001.277:

[possibly Willem Gruyter, Amsterdam (sale, Philippus Schley, Amsterdam, 8 August 1804, lot 82; sale, Philippus Schley, Amsterdam, 23 August 1808, lot 76)]. [1]
Private Collection, Vermont, before 1967 and probably prior to 20th cent. (to Koetser). [2]
[David M. Koetser Galleries, New York, after 1923 and prior to 1965 (to Fisher)].
Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA; Fisher Scientific International Inc., Hampton, NH, acquired by Chester Fisher, prior to 1965 until 2000.
The Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2000 (from Fisher Scientific International Inc.).
Notes:
[1] This auction lists lot 82 as a painting by Juncker with a very similar description to the present painting.
[2] An internal note from Chester Fisher described the painting as having been "located by Koetser Galleries in the Vermont home of a U.S.A. Naval Commander, in whose family it had been for several generations." David M. Koetser opened Koetser Galleries in New York shortly after 1923. The New York gallery in closed in 1967, when David M. Koetser moved to Zurich. The painting must have been sold to Chester Fisher before his death in 1965.

The Alchemist Object ID: FA 2000.003.001

John Sheepshanks (1787-1863); by descent to Charles Sheepshanks (probably Charles Edward William Sheepshanks, 1911-1991); (sale, Christie's, London, 27 July 1969, lot. 84 (to Bader)).
Alfred Bader, Milwaukee, 1969-1995 (to Roy Eddleman for Spectrum).
Spectrum Laboratories, California, 1995-2000.
The Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2000 (from Spectrum and Roy Eddleman).
Notes for making aqua fortis
<i>A catalogue of the Portsmouth collection of books and papers written by or belonging to Sir Isaac Newton</i>, chemistry parcel 5, item 29 (p. 18).
<i>Catalogue of the Newton papers... sold by auction by Messrs. Sotheby and Co.... On Monday July 13, 1936, and Following Day.</i>, lot 88b (p. 14).
<i>The Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library</i>, vol. 2, p. 658, where the manuscripts is misidentified as belonging to lot 18 in the Sotheby's sale.

Nobel laureates at Indian Institute of Science

This photograph was graciously donated to the Science History Institute (formerly the Chemical Heritage Foundation) by Raji Heyrovska in 2001.

Department

Element

dcterms:source

URI

http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/source

Definition

Institute administrative entity responsible for the management and curation of the physical work.

Required

Yes

Repeatable

No

Content Rules

Select the division from the dropdown choices:

  • Museum

  • Library

  • Archives

  • Center for Oral History

Series Arrangement

Element

bf:materialHierarchicalLevel

URI

http://bibframe.org/vocab/materialHierarchicalLevel

Definition

The intellectual organization of a work in an archival collection.

Required

Only for Archival Materials.

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Used for Archival materials only. Specify series and subseries of work, where relevant. Capture the information as listed in the finding aid.

Example

Series I. Arnold O. Beckman Files, 1918-2009, undated

Physical Container

Element

bf:materialOrganization

URI

http://bibframe.org/vocab/materialOrganization

Definition

The physical location of a work in an archival collection or, alternatively, a work’s placement in a series (non-archival) or monograph.

Required

Yes, when applicable

Repeatable

No

Content Rules

For archival materials, specify box and folder container numbers, where relevant.

For serialized materials, specify volume and part numbers, where relevant.

Include shelfmark information when applicable.

For partially digitized bibliographic items, indicate the pages within a larger work included in the record.

Examples

Box 122; Folder 34

Volume 2; Part 1

Page 587

Element

dcterms:relation

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/relation

Definition

Link to additional information or content relating to the work.

Required

No, but recommended

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Input URLs to related content in the digital collections or main website. Select the category of link from the drop-down menu:

Input the URL using a permanent and Institute-based URLs when possible, then enter the given item label.

Three related Digital Collections works will be automatically selected for the record if no Related Links with the “Related work” category are input.

Correspondence should be linked to their preceding and following correspondence when possible.

Rights

Element

dc11:rights

URI

http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/rights

Definition

Information on copyright status and licensing.

Required

Yes

Repeatable

No

Content Rules

Selected rights statements for this field are from rightsstatements.org and Creative Commons. Please see Copyright Assignment Guidelines for local assignment procedures. Select rights statement from dropdown menu.

Public Domain Mark 1.0

Includes works that have been identified as being free of any known restrictions under copyright law.

No Copyright - United States
The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries.

No Known Copyright

Includes works whose copyright determination could not be fully verified but are very likely to be out of copyright protection.

CC BY 4.0

Works in copyright held by the Science History Institute are free for re-use with attribution.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International — CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use; You may not use the material for commercial purposes; If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

No Copyright - Other Known Legal Restrictions

Use of this Item is not restricted by copyright and/or related rights. In one or more jurisdictions, laws other than copyright are known to impose restrictions on the use of this item.

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Includes works protected by copyright and/or related rights for which no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for educational uses. i.e., noncommercial, educational uses limited to teaching, scholarship, and research.

In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable

Used when an item falls within Copyright protection, but the legal owner of the copyrights is unknown or unidentifiable.

In Copyright
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Rights Holder

Element

dcterms:rightsholder

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/rightsHolder

Definition

The individual or organization owning or managing rights to the work.

Required

Yes, if available

Repeatable

No

Content Rules

Works marked “In Copyright” should have a specified owner in the following Rights Holder field.

Example

Science History Institute

Arnold O. Beckman

Additional Credit

Element

bf:Note

URI

http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe/note

Definition

Additional attribution information to credit staff or contractors involved in the production of the records, photography, translation, etc.

Required

No

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Select roles and names from the dropdown choices. If a desired entry is not available, contact the Digital Collections Librarian.

Example

Photography by Gregory Tobias

Translated by Jocelyn R. McDaniel

Digitization Funder

Element

crm:e39-Actor

URI

http://www.cidoc-crm.org/Entity/e39-actor/version-6.2

Definition

Text defining person(s) or organization(s) responsible for funding the digitization of work.

Required

Yes, when applicable

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Enter the name of the funding organization or individual in the following sentence:

"Digitization and cataloging of this item made possible through the generosity of [name of donor or funder]”

Where applicable, add "in honor of [name(s)]" after donor's name(s) if donor specified named individual(s) for acknowledgement.

Example

Digitization and cataloging of this item were made possible through the generosity of Kevin Cavanaugh.

Digitization and cataloging of this item were made possible through the generosity of Daniel Sanford in honor of Miles and Conner Hatcher.

File Creator

Element

bf:assigner

URI

http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe/assigner

Definition

The individual, group, or organization responsible for producing the digital representation of the work, such as the digitizing agent or file author.

Required

Yes

Repeatable

No

Content Rules

Select a name from the dropdown choices. If the desired entry is not available, contact the Digital Collections Librarian.

Example

Pinkney, Annabel
Penn Libraries
George Blood Audio LP

Admin Note

Element

bf:Note

URI

http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe/note

Definition

Information about the work, the digital record, or the digital representation meant for internal use only.

Required

No

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Use for internal notes such as copyright concerns that aren’t specified in a rights statement, digitization errors, citation information for description research, legacy metadata, image release on Wikimedia Commons, etc. Record first initial, last name, and date with the note in case a follow-up is necessary.

Example

Published without a copyright notice in the December 16, 1947 edition of The Brine Well; therefore, photo is in the public domain in the United States due to failure to comply with required formalities (H. Kativa, 2/4/2019).

OCR disabled due to incorrect rendering of tables (ALP 9/23/23)

Collection

Element

dcterms:isPartOf

URI

http://purl.org/dc/terms/isPartOf

Definition

The sub-Collection within the Digital Collections Application to which the digital work belongs.

Required

Yes, when applicable

Repeatable

Yes

Content Rules

Choose from one of the available collections options, or create a new collection. Pertains to the physical collection associated with the work.