Metadata Standards - Michael J Wright Digital Archive

Audience: Curators (primary) · Library integrators (secondary)

Use this doc when you need to: understand the curation targets for completeness/consistency by content type.

Important note: the live ingest implementation stores fields using Dublin Core Terms (dcterms:*) and MJW custom predicates. For the authoritative “what gets written to Fedora” mapping, see Metadata Model.

Overview

This document establishes the metadata standards for cataloging works by Australian artist Michael J Wright. All metadata follows Dublin Core (DC) standard with JSON-LD enrichment for semantic web compatibility.

Core Principles

• Consistency: Use controlled vocabularies for repeating values
• Completeness: Required fields must be populated; optional fields enhance discoverability
• Accuracy: Source information from artist records, exhibition catalogs, or direct documentation
• Preservation: Capture technical metadata for long-term conservation planning

1. Paintings

Required Fields

Optional Fields

JSON-LD Structure

{
  "@context": {
    "dc": "http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/",
    "dcterms": "http://purl.org/dc/terms/",
    "schema": "https://schema.org/"
  },
  "dc:title": "Coastal Landscape at Dusk",
  "dc:creator": "Michael J Wright",
  "dc:date": "1987-03",
  "dc:type": "Painting",
  "dc:format": "Oil on canvas",
  "dc:rights": "Copyright © Michael J Wright. All rights reserved.",
  "dc:description": "A moody depiction of the Australian coast at twilight",
  "dc:subject": ["Landscape", "Coast", "Australian art"],
  "schema:artworkSurface": "76 x 101 cm",
  "dcterms:isPartOf": "Coastal Studies Series",
  "dc:identifier": "MJW-P-1987-042"
}

2. Photographs

Required Fields

Optional Fields

3. Poems

Required Fields

Optional Fields

4. Notebooks

Required Fields

Optional Fields

Catalog ID Conventions

Use structured identifiers for internal tracking:

Format: MJW-{TYPE}-{YEAR}-{NUMBER}

• MJW: Artist initials
• TYPE: P (Painting), D (Drawing), S (Sculpture), PH (Photograph), PM (Poem), NB (Notebook)
• YEAR: Four-digit year of creation
• NUMBER: Three-digit sequential number within year/type

Examples:

• MJW-P-1987-042 (42nd painting cataloged from 1987)
• MJW-D-2020-015 (15th drawing from 2020)
• MJW-S-2018-007 (7th sculpture from 2018)
• MJW-PH-1992-089 (89th photograph from 1992)
• MJW-PM-1995-018 (18th poem from 1995)
• MJW-NB-1989-003 (3rd notebook from 1989)

Copyright & Rights Statement

Standard statement for all works:

Copyright © Michael J Wright. All rights reserved.

For works with special licensing or public domain status, append clarification:

Copyright © Michael J Wright. All rights reserved. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Metadata Quality Guidelines

Completeness Levels

• Minimal: All required fields populated
• Standard: Required + 3-5 optional fields relevant to work type
• Comprehensive: Required + all available optional fields + external references

Data Entry Best Practices

1. Dates: Use most precise format available (YYYY, YYYY-MM, YYYY-MM-DD)
2. Measurements: Always specify units (cm, inches); use Height x Width for 2D works
3. Keywords: Use 3-7 subject terms per work; balance specific + general terms
4. Descriptions: Write 1-3 sentences; describe visual/thematic content, not interpretation
5. Series Names: Capitalize as proper nouns; maintain consistent spelling across works

Updating Metadata

• Version metadata in Fedora using Memento protocol (automatic)
• Add dcterms:modified timestamp when making substantive changes
• Document significant changes in dcterms:provenance field

Next Steps

1. Review controlled vocabulary lists (controlled-vocabularies.md)
2. Consult image resolution strategy (image-resolution-strategy.md)
3. Use metadata templates (templates/ directory) for actual ingestion