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Collection Metadata Guide

CAVC Historical Society Digital Archive Metadata

The CAVC Historical Society (“HS”) uses the platform Omeka to store and publish its digital collections. Within this platform, we use a core set of six metadata elements/datapoints: Title, Creator, Subject, Description, Publisher, and Date. (Specifically, we use Dublin Core as our starting point for a metadata schema.)

  1. Title: A name given to the resource.
  2. Creator: An entity primarily responsible for making the resource.
  3. Subject: The topic of the resource.
  4. Description: – An account of the resource.
  5. Publisher: An entity responsible for making the resource available.
  6. Date: A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource.

Multiple entries can be given for each element. For example, if an article has two authors, this should go in as two entries separately and not one entry with both names.

Naming Conventions for Each Element

  • Title
    • Transcribe the title, if there is one, from the resource itself, such as a caption from a photograph, a title on a map, or a description on an oral history recording.
    • If there is no title, create a descriptive and concise title indicating the nature of the resource (e.g., letter, diary) and/or its subject (e.g., names of persons, corporate bodies, objects, activities, events, geographical area). Generally, construct the title using the following order: Who, What, Where, When. Avoid generic titles such as “Papers” or “Annual report.”
    • If writing your own title, attempt to be as concise as possible.
    • If there is a subtitle, please enter this as a separate title entry.
    • If the title has multiple names, use another entry for the alternate name(s).
    • Capitalize only the first word (of a title, for example) and proper names (place, personal, and organization names).
  • Creator
    • Enter personal names in the inverted form: Last name, First name, Middle name, Initial. We are not using honorifics.
      • Example: Nebeker, Frank Q.
    • This should be given to a person if they are known unless cited to one group or organization. Affiliation with a group or organization should be considered under the publisher heading. When in doubt about whether an entity is a publisher or a creator, enter a corporate entity as Publisher and a personal name as Creator.
  • Subject
    • Due to the narrow nature of our archive, we don’t use a mainstream standard like the Library of Congress Subject Headings. We have created our own subject terms to help categorize items. We are currently using the following:
      • Court Events
      • Court Creation
      • Legislative History
      • Nominations
      • Organizational History
      • Professional Programs
      • Interviews
      • Court Competitions
      • Judges and Court Personnel
      • And more to come!
  • Description
    • Description may include, but is not limited to: an abstract, a summary, a table of contents, reference to a graphical representation of content, or a free-text account of the content.
    • Think of this as a caption for the entire item. Information can be taken from the item itself or provided by the cataloger themselves based on prior knowledge or research.
    • Capitalize content in the description element according to normal rules of writing.
  • Publisher
    • Publishers can be a corporate body, publishing house, museum, historical society, university, project, repository, etc.
    • When in doubt about whether an entity is a publisher or a creator, enter a corporate entity as Publisher and a personal name as Creator.
    • If the publisher is the same as the creator, enter the name or entity in both the Publisher and Creator elements. 
  • Date
    • First include the exact date if given as Month Day, Year
      • Example: November 18, 1988 for 1988-11-18.
    • If no exact date is known, you can estimate using a "circa" date. You may use a range or decade if necessary.
      • circa 1975
      • circa 1990s
      • circa 1987-1989
    • Next, include the era of the date. The eras are based on the Chief Judge who was presiding during that time:
      • Pre-Court (1988 and earlier)
      • Nebeker Era (1989-2000)
      • Kramer Era (2000-2004)
      • Ivers Era (2004-2005)
      • Greene Era (2005-2010)
      • Kasold Era (2010-2015)
      • Hagel Era (2015-2016)
      • Davis Era (2016-2019)
      • Bartley Era (2019-2024)
      • Allen Era (2024-Present)