1. Course-level Metadata
1a. General / Course Owner
1b. General / Language
1c. Metadata / Metadata Contributors
1d. Additional Features / Course Topic
2. Section-level Metadata
3. Resource-level Metadata
3a. General / Title
3b. General / Description
3c. General / IP Contributors
3d. Metadata / Learning Resource Type
3e. Metadata / Other Platform Requirements
3f. Metadata / Duration
Instructions:
MIT OpenCourseWare content management system: https://ocwcms.mit.edu/
Note:
- When entering metadata, always remember to Save (at bottom of page) before leaving the Metadata entry page or your metadata changes will not be saved.
- Only edit the metadata fields referenced in these instructions. Be careful not to make any changes to the content of the course pages.
1. Course-level Metadata
Navigate to the Course-level Metadata tab. The first sub-tab you will see is called General.
Course-level metadata applies to the course as a whole. Much of the Course Metadata is automatically generated by the system based on information captured during course setup. Some metadata elements will have default values. The following elements should be checked and metadata added if needed.
1a. Course-level Metadata / General / Course Owner
A Course Owner will usually already be assigned to the course. If no owner has been assigned then add the OCW production manager, Joe Pickett (jpickett), as the Course Owner. Course-level metadata cannot be added in the CMS unless the course has an owner assigned.
1b. Course-level Metadata / General / Language
This field is used to indicate the primary human language or languages used within this learning object to communicate to the intended user.
If the course is taught primarily in a language other than English, assign the appropriate IETF language code. Examples: "en-US" for American English, "es" for Spanish, "fr" for French, "de" for German, "ja" for Japanse, "pt" for Portuguese, "zh" for Chinese, "ru" for Russian.
References:
http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes
1c. Course-level Metadata / Metadata / Metadata Contributors
Navigate to the Metadata sub-tab of the the Course-level Metadata tab.
If you are adding metadata to a course, add your name with the role of Creator.
If you are are validating the metadata before archiving to DSpace, also add your name with the role of Validator.
1d. Course-level Metadata / Additional Features / Course Topic
Navigate to the Additional Features sub-tab of the the Course-level Metadata tab.
This field is used to indicate the primary subject matter of the course. The course topics are used to organize the courses on the site and to make them more easily found by users who may not be familiar with the MIT course numbers.
Course topics may already have been assigned by the OCW team. Double-check that the topics are appropriate. Add or remove topics if necessary. Be as specific with Topic/Sub-topic/Specialty as possible. If you are tempted to add several specialties under the same Sub-topic, it may be appropriate to just use the more general term.
When deciding which course topics to assign, consider the department that offers the course, the course title, and the course description. It may also be helpful to check the syllabus and other sections of the course as well when the primary topics are not obvious. See Course Topics for the controlled vocabulary currently being used to categorize OCW course topics.
Click Save to save your changes.
2. Section-level Metadata
Each course on the OCW site is broken down into Sections. Some of the typical Sections seen on a course site are Syllabus, Calendar, Readings, Lecture Notes, and Assignments. Section-level metadata applies to a Section of the course and all Resources contained in that Section.
Navigate to the View Module Resources tab. This tab displays all the Sections and Resources that are part of the course.
For each Section of the course click (Edit) to add metadata.
2a. General / Description
Add a short summary of the content of the section. A description may be found in the section itself, which can be copied and pasted but may need to be generalized. For example, a reference to the content "below" becomes nonsensical when moved from the OCW site.
Click Save to save your changes.
3. Resource-level Metadata
Navigate to the View Module Resources tab. This tab displays all the Sections and Resources that are part of the course.
For each Resource of the course click (Edit) to add metadata.
3a. General / Title
Add an appropriate title for the resource.
The Resource Title is crucially important because, along with the Resource Description, it will be used to create search result pages. Together they need to provide searchers enough information to know if the resource contains what they are looking for.
The Title is the Name of an object. It should uniquely identify the resource, just like our names uniquely identify us. The preferred Title for a resource is the name given by the author of the resource.
To find the name given by the author for a resource, check the following (in order of precedence).
1. The resource itself. Often a resource will have a Title at the top of the document, on the first page, or elsewhere in the resource.
2. The Section Page from which the resource is linked. An appropriate title for the resource may sometimes be found on the Section page, either as a link to the resource itself, or as accompanying information.
If no name has been provided by the author in any of the above locations, a new name must be created.
Example 1:
In this example we look at the lecture presentation for the second session of the course.
1. First look at the resource itself.
This example lecture of a lecture note lists "Lecture #7" at the top and "Endomorphism rings" as the main heading of the outline of topics covered in the resource. As "Lecture #7" is very general, and not helpful for identifying the contents of the resource, the "Endomorphism rings" would be better.
2. Second look at the Section Page.
This Lecture Notes Section Page lists the topics covered by each of the lecture notes in the course. In this example, most are the same as the titles found in the resources.
The title on the resource itself takes precedence. If the resource had contained no title, or if the title was generic, such as “Lecture 7,” the text on the Section page would have been used
For Resource Titles our practice is usually to use Title Caps, unless it is clear that the creator of the resource intended specific capitalization. So while the title for this resource is shown as "Endomorphism rings" we would change that to "Endormorphism Rings."
Example 2:
In this example we look at the first assignment of the course.
1. First look at the resource itself. This assignment contains the title “"Problem Set 1 – Equivalent Circuit Models."
2. Second look at the Section Page. This Assignments Section Page includes the title “Problem set 1.” No other information is provided.
While “Problem Set 1” would be a candidate for the Resource Title if there were not a better one available, it is a generic name that does not uniquely identify the resource.
The title “Problem Set 1 – Equivalent Circuit Models” is best because it uniquely identifies the resource. and was the title given by the author of the document.
For more tips on choosing an appropriate Title, UNT has a good reference: http://www.library.unt.edu/digital-projects-unit/title
3b. General / Description
Add a short description of the resource.
For more tips on writing an appropriate Description, UNT has a good reference: http://www.library.unt.edu/digital-projects-unit/description
3c. General / IP Contributors
Add the name of each person or entity that contributed IP to the resource. To find the contributors, carefully inspect the resource itself, as well as the Section page that contains it.
Course Instructors are added at the Course-level and do not need to be added at the Resource-level.
MIT-affiliated Contributors should be entered as they appear in the MIT People Directory.
Where appropriate, the Library of Congress Name Authority File (NAF) should be consulted.
Usernames from online sites may be used if the real name of the contributor is not available. Indicate which site the username is associated with. Example: JSmith22 on Flickr
3d. Metadata / Learning Resource Type
Assign the Learning Resource Type (LRT) that best describes the resource. More than one LRT may be assigned, but the norm is to assign one.
See Learning Resource Types for the controlled vocabulary currently being used to categorize OCW course topics.
3e. Metadata / Other Platform Requirements
Copy and paste the appropriate usage statement (see Platform Requirements) for the file type of the resource. For new file types you may need to craft a new usage statement.
3f. Metadata / Duration
For audio and video files only, add the duration in HH:MM:SS format.
Click Save to save your changes.
