Dublin Core is one of the most common metadata schema. It is used in many platforms, including Media Beacon and Omeka.
This metadata schema is versatile because it can be used for a variety of resources including, videos, images, web pages, books, CDs, or objects.
Dublin Core has a vast amount of fields that can be used to fit your needs. The most common "15" core metadata fields are below. If you are attempting to assign Dublin Core to any project, the following 15 fields must be used.
An example of a Dublin Core project can be found at: The Digital Gallery at BGSU
Field descriptions with a "*" next to them were taken from the Official Dublin Core Website
Other descriptions were created collaborative with Stefanie Hunker, Digital Resources Librarian, Bowling Green State University
Title
Dublin Core Element: dc.title
Definition: A title of the resource, either supplied by the individual assigning metadata or from the object.
Example: Freddy Falcon at Homecoming 2013
Suggestions: Do not start titles with definite articles (A, An, The, etc.). This practice should be discouraged because it could disrupt alphabetizing of titles. Only capitalize the first letter, proper nouns, and acronyms in titles. If a title is a person's name, use the full name. If a title is a place, use Place-City and State.
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Creator*
Dublin Core Element: dc.creator
Definition: Entity responsible for making the resource.
Example: Public, John Q.
Suggestions: The first letter of the last name and the first letter of the first name should be capitalized. All other letters should be lower case. Abbreviations for first names or last names are discouraged. Good sources for official names are WorldCat and VIAF. If the creator is an organization, institution, department, building, etc. find the official title of the organization, institutions, department, building, etc. If the entity is associated with BGSU use the official title for the department, organization, building, etc. A standardized list of BGSU entity names is located in the R:\Library\Public folder and is named BGSU Entity Names.xlsx
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Subject
Dublin Core Element: dc.subject
Definition: Use this field to provide subject/keywords for a description.
Example: Colleges and universities.
Suggestions: Use a controlled vocabulary/thesaurus if possible (ex. Library of Congress Subject Headings, Getty Art and Architecture subject headings, internal established headings, etc.)
Be consistent in how you describe objects in a collection.
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Description
Dublin Core Element: dc.description,
Definition: Use this field to provide a brief abstract of the collection, object materials.
Example: This Libguide focuses on metadata.
Suggestions: Provide short descriptive and complete sentences.
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Publisher*
Dublin Core Element: dc.publisher
Definition: Entity responsible for making the resource available.
Example: Bowling Green State University
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Contributor*
Dublin Core Element: dc.contributor
Definition: Entity responsible for making contributions to the resource.
Example: Public, John Q.
Suggestions: The first letter of the last name and first name should be capitalized. All other letters should be lower case. Abbreviations for first names or last names are discouraged. Good sources for official names are WorldCat and VIAF. If the contributor is an organization, institution, department, building, etc. find the official title of the organization, institutions, department, building, etc. If the entity is associated with BGSU use the official title for the department, organization, building, etc. Be consistent.
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Coverage (spatial or temporal)*
Dublin Core Element: dc. coverage
Definition: The spatial or temporal topic of the resource.
Example: Ohio, 1920-1930
Suggestions: Try to be as specific as possible.Do not use abbreviations. Do not abbreviate years (ex. 12 vs. 2012, 1912, etc.)
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Date
Dublin Core Element: dc.date
Definition: Date of the resource.
Example: 2007-01-06
Suggestions: Be consistent. Use four-digit year(s). Use only numeric values.
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Type*
Dublin Core Element: dc.type
Definition: Nature or genre of the resource.
Example: Collection ; Data set.
Suggestion: For a list of possible types, visit: http://dublincore.org/documents/2012/06/14/dcmi-terms/?v=elements#H7
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Format*
Dublin Core Element:dc.format
Definition: The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of resource.
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Rights*
Dublin Core Element: dc.rights
Definition: Information about rights held in and over the resource.
Example: Copyright 2013, BGSU
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Source*
Dublin Core Element: dc.source
Definition: A related resource from which the described resource is derived.
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Language
Dublin Core Element: dc.language
Definition: Language of the item.
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Relation*
Dublin Core Element: dc. relation
Definition: Related resource.
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Identifier
Dublin Core Element: dc.identifier
Definition: Call Number/Collection Number/Identifier.
ex. Vol. I, No.435 biglittleno. 260
At UL, Dublin Core is the most common metadata schema used in our metadata projects and software platforms. UL policy requires that the "15" core elements be used, as often as possible. UL also understands that some metadata projects require more in-depth metadata. Below are examples of UL enhanced metadata:
Series Title
Dublin Core Element: dc.relation.isapartof
Example: New Tip Top Weekly Beadle’s Half-Dime Library
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Provenance
Dublin Core Element: dc.provenance
Example: "This copy once owned by Capt. Kirk."
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Notes
Dublin Core Element(s): Alternative Title Dublin Core Element: dc.title.alternative
Example: Main title - Dick Merriwell and the Carlisle Warriors Alternate title - The mystery of the kidnapped pitcher
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Rights vs. Access Rights
Dublin Core Element: dc.rightsHolder, dc.accessRights
Example: rightsHolder=”Center for Archival Collections”
accessRights=”OhioLINK”