Date

Element Name

Date

Dates associated with events in the life cycle of the resource.

Item Type	Information Sources	Creation date for this kind of item is the date or range of dates when:
For text	title page copyright page cover or inside cover page	the text was published or printed
For images	bottom or back of a photograph a time-stamp envelope, slip cover, or case	a photograph or slide was taken
For maps	title in a caption or legend notes around the outside of the map	the map was printed
For music scores	top of page title page table of contents	the music was finished (handwritten) or printed
For videos	title or credit screen(s) label on disc container cover	the video was released
For sound files	information on disc/cassette container information	the disc/tape was issued
For computer files	title page/screen statement in a header/footer	the content was finished

In some cases the date may come from accompanying or supplementary information.

Parts:: 1. Date qualifier -- drop-down menu
2. Date -- text field
Repeatable?: No - there is only one original Creation Date, and the Date Digitized is entered by the system

Whenever possible, enter an original resource creation date
Be sure to select "Creation" as the date type from the drop-down menu
If no date can be found, leave the field blank
When the resource being described is a collection, a date range can be used to describe the creation date range of all the resources

Guideline	Form(s)	Examples
Basic Format Write dates Year-Month-Day, separating the sections with a single hyphen Include partial dates only if the year or only the month and year are known	YYYY-MM-DD YYYY YYYY-MM	1985-03-27 1865-05
Date Ranges Follow the same basic format but separate the dates with a slash mark If a date range includes only a start date, use the word 'open' at the end If a date range includes only an end date, use the word 'unknown' at the start	YYYY-MM-DD/ YYYY-MM-DD YYYY-MM-DD/OPEN UNKNOWN/YYYY-MM-DD	1941-12/1945-08 1889-05-13/OPEN UNKNOWN/1914-06-02
Uncertain dates If a date is uncertain question marks can be used to fill in blanks, or at the end (it is preferred that a year have at least a general decade - YYY?) If a date is approximate, a tilde can be used at the end of the date Put [square brackets] around dates that do not come from the item itself	YYYY-MM-DD? YYY?-MM-DD YYY? YYYY-MM-DD~ [YYYY-MM-DD]	1958-09-16? 192?-12-06 189? 1879-03-29~ [1962-04]
Dates with timestamps If the item has an exact time associated with it, use 'T' to separate the date and time This is rarely used and must be exact	YYYYMMDDThhmmss	20080502T150751
B. C. Dates Include a hyphen at the front of the date	-YYYY-MM-DD	-0601

Creation date refers to the date of the exact item for the record, even if it is a derivation:

The item is treated as a piece of correspondence
Use the date that the letter was written or that the card was postmarked
If it is important, the date of the picture can be included as part of the coverage


[Letter from Zavala to Santa Anna, March 7, 1829]: Original Resource Creation Date: 1829-03-07
Painting: A Scene from "The Beggar's Opera": Original Resource Creation Date: 1728/1729
Digital photograph: [Bull riding at the Cowtown Coliseum]: Original Resource Creation Date: 20031227T091640
Court case: Documents pertaining to B. C. Wallace as the receiver of the estate and guardian of Campbell minors, cause no. 532, 1896-1904: Original Resource Creation Date: 1896-11-13/1904-12-08
Farmer's bulletin: Diseases of sheep and goats.: Original Resource Creation Date: 1943-09
University catalog: Catalog of Hardin-Simmons University, 1989-1990 Undergraduate Bulletin: Original Resource Creation Date: [1989]
Photograph: Crazy Theatre With Car: Original Resource Creation Date: 1914~

Postcard: [Hamilton Hotel, Laredo, Texas]: Original Resource Creation Date: 1910-01-23

To express the time period(s), date, or date range associated with the intellectual content of the resource, use the Coverage element.
- For example, a book published in 1976 that is about Texas history from first statehood to 1964 would have an original resource creation date of 1976, but a coverage date range of 1846 - 1964.
Recommended best practice for encoding the date value is defined in the proposed standards from the Library of Congress: Extended Date Time Format