DMR Help and FAQs

Below is a list of Dublin Core metadata elements and fields that are commonly used in the DMR.

Title: Name of a resource.

• The title may be derived from or assigned to the resource.

Subject: Topic of a resource.

• i.e., Library of Congress Subject Terms, Thesaurus for Graphic Materials, Persons Pictured, etc.

Description: An account or summary of the resource.

Creator: An entity, such as a person or organization, primarily responsible for making the resource.

Publisher: An entity responsible for making the resource available.

Contributor: An entity, such as a person or organization, responsible for making contributions to the resource.

Date: A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource.

Type: The nature or genre of the resource.

• Media types include text, still image, moving image, sound, and physical object.

Format: The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource.

• Format may refer to the medium, physical dimensions, run time, scale, and original format.
• The Original Format field may include a variety of terms, such as:
  • Photographs
  • Black and white images
  • Color images
  • Books
  • Pamphlets
  • Periodicals
  • Ephemera
  • Handwritten text
  • Typed text

Identifier: An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context.

• The digital identifier refers to the file name of an item, while an item identifier may refer to the archival collection identifier or individual identifiers.

Source: A related resource from with the described resource is derived.

Language: A language of the resource.

Relation: A related resource. 

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

• Spatial coverage refers to the Geographic Location, and temporal coverage refers to the Time Period.

Rights: Information about rights held in and over the resource.

Original Date: Describes when the item was created in its original form.

System Date: Generally used for administrative purposes.

Digital Date: Administrative dates used to track internal information about different resources and revisions.

• The digital date field holds internal information, such as the date records are uploaded to the DMR as well as the date of metadata revisions.

Time Period: Used to describe broad date ranges (e.g., decades, centuries, etc.).