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Hyku Cookbook: Title

Recipes for metadata entry for UofL Digital Collections

Title

This is a mandatory field. Every record must have a title.

sample of elements that show on each field page
Repeatable No. Use the alternative_title to enter one or more subtitle(s), translated title(s), or other alternate form of a title.
Hyku term title
Mapping http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/title
Search Yes
Hide No
Vocabulary No
Definition The name given to the image by the creator or publisher; may also be an identifying phrase or name supplied by the contributing institution.
Usage

Transcribe the title from the object itself, if available. If original title includes harmful or offensive terms, either include a harmful language statement in the description or alter the title and note the change in the description.

If not available, supply a title. Add the line “Title supplied by cataloger” to the end of the description field if only some of the titles in the collection have been supplied. When every title in a collection is supplied, a note to that effect in the collection-level description will suffice.

  • When possible, use the order Who, What, Where, When.
  • If some of those elements are known and others are speculative, include the most certain in the Title field and mention the least certain in description.
  • Avoid generic descriptions such as “Papers” or “View of…” at the beginning of titles.
  • Use the full form of words, at least the first time they are referenced, rather than abbreviations. That is, use Street (not St.), circa (not ca.), and Kentucky (not Ky.)
  • Make the title unique. If multiple images in a series are similar, include something unique about each in the title. If doing so requires revising a creator-supplied title, add “Title expanded by cataloger” to the description.

End the title with a period(.).

Capitalize only the initial first letter and proper names.

Remove leading articles (e.g. A, An, The).
Examples

Bible, France, mid 13th century, fragment.

The uncommon perspective of M.E.J. Colter.

Frankie McCoy and Joan Robertson, 1946.

Louisville and New Albany streetcar number 102, Louisville, Kentucky, 1920.

Autumn in Jacob Park, Louisville, Ky. [abbreviated state used because title came from published postcard]

American Indian Art.1850-1900 The golden anniversary. Kentucky School of Medicine and Hospital in the city of Louisville.

Thoroughbred 1951.