Descriptive Standards

General Note about Standards

Records that we create are harvested or migrated into a variety of different discovery platforms. The metadata that we create in ArchivesSpace, for example, may be ingested into local catalogs and digital asset management systems like Pacific's Primo instance or our Omeka site. From those platforms, metadata may be harvested or exported to higher level platforms, such as the Orbis-Cascade Alliance Alma catalog, WorldCat, the Digital Public Library of America (dp.la), or other future platforms. To make sure that our metadata transfers cleanly to the broadest possible array of platforms, we use:

Metadata standards (i.e., what the fields in the record are):

• All records are compatible with Dublin Core - which can export metadata in a variety of formats, including DC XML, MARC XML, MODS, EAD, etc.

• Finding Aids: EAD

Content Standards (i.e., what goes into the fields):

• DACS, Describing Archives, a Content Standard - default standard for describing materials; includes rules for creating titles, dates, extents, etc.

• RDA, Resource Description and Access - standard for creating names; also the standard for normal (non-rare) book cataloging

• ISBD, International Standard Bibliographic Description - used for its syntax rules, e.g. punctuation, rules for transcription, other specifics of how to record information

• CCO, Cataloging Cultural Objects - additional guidelines for describing art and artifacts. Especially useful for dealing with untitled/anonymous art and artifacts and for art-specific descriptive fields.

• DCRM(B), Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Material (Books) - used for describing rare published material such as books; related guides exist for maps, music, etc. (Note that most of this material will be handled by a book cataloger, but it is useful to refer to this when describing published material within an archival/museum collection.) DCRM(B) complements the more general RDA content standard.

• Orbis-Cascade Alliance Digital Content Metadata Standards - more specific standards for formatting dates, identifiers, right statements, geographic tagging, etc. in digital object records. Note: These standards pertain to the *output format* in which our records are harvested. We align our input content as much as possible to this standard, but certain field contents, such as the URL for the digital object in the identifier field, can only be harvested out of the record after it is uploaded.

Authorities & Thesauri (i.e., what vocabularies we use for names, subjects, genres, etc.)

• LC Names (NACO), LCSH (Subject Headings), LC Genres - Standarized name, subject and genre forms from the Library of Congress. Use whenever possible for names and subjects.

• ULAN, Getty Union List of Artists' Names - Standarized name forms; more complete for artists names than LC

• AAT, Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus - Best source for standardized terms for describing formats, artwork types, physical medium, etc.

Principles for the Most Commonly Used Fields

Note: These are the general principles that govern how we create metadata. For step-by-step rules for entering content see these guides:

• ArchivesSpace Accession Manual with simplified instructions for Pacific U. Archives (new) and Archivist's Toolkit Instructions (old)

• ArchivesSpace: Orbis Cascade Alliance Usage Manual - more detailed instructions

• Omeka: Metadata Creation & Batch Uploading

• WCHO Manual

Field Names and Rules