Description

Input guidelines:

Input guidelines for Content Description

• Enter descriptive text about the resource.  Free text descriptive information can be taken from the item itself or formulated by the metadata cataloger.  Possible sources of content description include text, abstract or other structured description, container or cover notes, video contents, notes written on the back of the photograph, and careful observation by the metadata cataloger.
• The content description should be specialized information not included in other elements, concise and precise, while keeping in mind that the exact form and completeness of the content description is flexible and should be appropriate for the nature and importance of the resource.
• As a rule of thumb, describe the item using only the information in hand without doing any additional research--unless it is believed that additional research and description is required for a patron to locate the resource or to understand the intellectual content of the resource.
  • Only if necessary, an encyclopedia or other reference source can be used. For example, if the resource is an image of a country's President, you may want to add the dates that the person held that office. If specific information that would not be considered common knowledge is included from a reference source, cite the reference source.
• Avoid any commentary on or interpretation of the item being described.
• Since the description field is a potentially rich source of indexable vocabulary, care should be taken in describing content.  For instance, in the first one or two sentences, each non-textual item should be described so that a user who is visually disabled will understand its intellectual content if this is not already clear from the title.
• Because the first few phrases of the content description display in search results lists generated by the Portal, placing concise and interesting information within the first two sentences of the content description will assist users in identifying the most relevant resources retrieved by their searches.
• Use additional content description fields for the same description translated into another language, or for a transcript of an accompanying audio commentary.

Input guidelines for Physical Description

• Enter physical descriptions including: dimensions, extent, pagination, and related physical and process details
• When dimensions are given, specify the units, e.g. "cm." for centimeters or "in." for inches.
• Since, this element corresponds to the [300] field in the MARC records used by many library catalogs, it is recommended to follow AACR2 rules, as much as possible.

Related elements.

• To label the front and back of an object, point to a specific section of a book, differentiate between an album caption and other text or images, etc., use the Digital Object Description sub-element of the Digital Object element.
• To provide detailed technical description and other important requirements, use elements in the preservation metadata section including: System Environment, Exception, etc. 
• For format, use the Format element.

Examples:

Examples of Content Description

Title:  Congressional Globe (Permanent Edition) Volume 85:  28th Congress, 2nd session, Appendix
Content Description:  Congressional debates and proceedings regarding the annexation of Texas to the United States of America.  Only selected pages of the Congressional Globe are reproduced here.

Title:  Jim Goin and Mr. [Fred] Cummings.  Ice delivery in Aubrey
Content Description:  Photograph of a man holding a large block of ice in tongs and standing in front of an enclosed wagon.  To his left, another man--outfitted with a toolbelt and pole-climbing gear--leans against the bumper of a motor vehicle.

Title:  Map of the state of Texas / from the latest authorities ; by J. H. Young ; J. L. Hazzard, sculp.
Content Description:  Map includes text on railroads in Texas, El Llano Estacado, the Rio Grande, the Grand Indian Crossing, and the population of Texas according to the census of 1850.  Inset:  Map of the vicinity of Galveston City.

Title:  Morning After 1918
Content Description:  Photograph of storm-damaged buildings.  In the foreground are pedestrians, riders, wagons, carriages, horses, and mules.  A tornado had touched Aubrey and many other North Texas communities on the evening of April 14, 1918.

Title:  Navel of the World
Content Description:  A conical shaped stone representing the "navel of the world" sits on top of a square platform surrounded by stone archaeological ruins at Delphi. "According to ancient Greek myth, Zeus released two eagles, one from the east, the other from the west, and caused them to fly toward the centre. They met at Delphi, and the spot was marked by a stone in the temple; this stone was known as the 'omphalos' (navel)." (cf. "Delphi" Britannica Online. [Accessed 20 November 1998].)

Title:  Tax receipt for Mary Jones, signed in 1865
Content Description:  Receipt documenting property tax paid by Mary Jones for the year 1865.  Taxed items listed were land, horses, cattle, hens, hogs, a gold watch, and a piano.

Title:  The Texas Navy
Content Description:  A survey of the Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution and the Republic Era.  Includes maps, sketches, a list of ships of the Texas Navy, and a chronology.  Also includes photographs of 20th century U.S. Navy ships named after Texans or Texas locations.

Examples of Physical Description

149 p. ; 23 cm.

1 score (16 p.) ; 29 cm.

1 sound recording (45 min.)

1 globe, wood, mounted on brass stand ;12 cm. in diameter. 

5 linear feet

tintype, 2 in. x 3 in.