Best Practices for Metadata for
Wisconsin State Agency Web Writers and Administrators

Shiela Pollock (Shiela.Pollock@dpi.wi.gov), (608) 224-5395
Abby Swanton (Abbigail.Swanton@dpi.wi.gov), (608) 224-6174
Reference and Loan Library, Dept. of Public Instruction

---

Metadata is important for the following reasons:

• It improves search relevancy
• Provides a standardized system to classify and label Web content
• Supports Wisconsin.gov portal maintenance and administration
• Supports long-term preservation efforts of state documents
• Provides key information such as who created the page and when it was created

There are also state mandated requirements for participation in the Wisconsin.gov portal and for the preservation of electronic state documents.

The State of Wisconsin has adopted the Dublin Core (DC) metadata element set for describing documents accessible via the Web. This core set of metadata elements is defined by the Dublin Core Working Group. For more information on the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative's standards and resources, see http://dublincore.org/.

For help, advice or assistance please contact either Shiela or Abby noted above.

Standard Tags To Be Used On Agency Pages

The following is a list of four tags that are strongly recommended by the Wisconsin State Government Portal Metadata Team.

• Title
• Date
• Keyword
• Description

Do I have to use all these meta tags?

No, you are not required to use every one in every instance. Certain tags may not be relevant to the page or document you are describing and can be ignored. Keep in mind, however, that the more complete and accurate the metadata is, the better the search results will be for users. Further, the more complete the meta tags are the better equipped the State Portal Metadata Project and the Document Depository Program staff are to insure your hard work is accessible and preserved.

There are a few more tags that are optional listed near the end of this document. Use these tags to add additional information about the document or webpage.

1. Title

Example: <title> </title>

Definition: The name of the document or web page given to the page by the Creator or Publisher. This tag is a standard element in the html header.
How used: This element appears in the users' bookmark and at the top of the browser. The state's search engine uses the title metatag when searching and displaying search results, as do commerical search engines.
Importance: Very important. The state portal's search engine gives a term appearing in the title considerable weight.
Format: Text string. Should be long enough to be descriptive, but not too long. A 30- character title might be a good target for most circumstances. However, be careful using abbreviations. Users might not understand them readily. It is better to be more descriptive and clear in terminology.

For more information, see: Identifying the Titles of Documents and WebPages.

2. DC.Date

Example: <meta name="DC.Date.Created" content="" scheme="ISO 8601">

Definition: A date associated with the creation or availability of the resource. Each page may have more than one instance of DC.Date. At minimum, each page should have either a "created" or "modified" date.
How used: The DC.Date is displayed in the source view of the page. Advanced searching will allow users to set date parameters for searching and will retrieve pages included in the range. You may include more than one relevant date (created, modified, etc.) as long as each is explicitly tagged as such.
Importance: This element will be used for setting search parameters, making this element very important. Also, the date is very important for archiving and long-term preservation of the document.
Format: ISO 8601 defines the standard for dates which is YYYY-MM-DD (eg, 2008-12-25). If month or day is unknown then use zeros as placeholders (eg, 2008-00-00).

For more information, see: Identifying Important Dates for Documents and WebPages.

3. Keywords

Example: <meta name="keywords" content="">

Definition: One or more terms that are the subject of the page. Some or all terms may be from the Wisconsin thesaurus. Other terms, not from the thesaurus may be used, especially jargon or terms well known by a user community.
How used: The state's search engine searches keywords, as do some other commercial search engines.
Importance: The state's search engine gives a term appearing in keywords considerable weight.
Format: Text: A small handful of words or phrases. Separate keywords and phrases by commas.

For more information, see: Subject and Keyword Metatags for Documents and WebPages.

4. Description

Example: <meta name="description" content="">

Definition: A textual description of the content of the resource, including abstracts in the case of document-like objects or content descriptions in the case of visual resources. A good way to think of this text is to ask yourself, "Does this phrase describe what this document is?" "If I read the phrase and I knew nothing about the document would I understand from reading this phrase?"
How used: When a search engine selects the page, this description is displayed on the search results. The state's search engine searches descriptions, as do some commercial search engines.
Importance: Very important. The state's search engine gives a term appearing in the description considerable weight.
Format: Text. In each search result, Wisconsin's search engine displays about 175 characters, or 30 words. Therefore, agencies should try to get the most important ideas in the description in the first 30 words. It can be longer, but only the first 30 will be displayed as a search result.

For more information, see: Description Metatag for Documents and WebPages.

Standard Dublin Core tags that might be helpful to include (but optional)

There are other Dublin Core tags that might be helpful to you, your agency, and the general public. A well described document is well worth the effort. It improves the findability by search engines and helps end users know what they have found.

The portal metadata team endorses well described documents and webpages, but leaves the use of these tags to your discretion.

DC.Contributor

Example: <meta name="DC.Contributor.PageDesigner" content="" scheme="AACR2">

Definition: A person or organization not specified in a Creator element who has made significant intellectual contributions to the page but whose contribution is secondary to any person or organization specified in the DC.Creator element (for example, page designer, editor, transcriber, and illustrator).
How used: The DC.Contributor is displayed in the source view of the page; it allows users to find pages by a certain contributor, thereby increasing searching power considerably.
Importance: This term would be of value in future advanced searching where the user is looking for documents to which an individual contributed.
Format: Personal names should be listed surname or family name first, followed by forename or given name. When in doubt and you cannot tell which is the surname, give the name as it appears, and do not invert it (eg, Glenn Michael).

DC.Creator

Example: <meta name="DC.Creator.PersonalName" content="" scheme="AACR2">

Definition: The person or organization primarily responsible for creating the intellectual content of the page. For example, authors, in the case of written documents, artists, photographers, or illustrators in the case of graphics.
How used: The DC.Creator is displayed in the source view of the page. Advanced searching allows users to find pages by a certain creator, thereby increasing searching power considerably.
Importance: This term would be of value where the user is looking for documents produced by a certain individual.
Format: Personal names should be listed surname or family name first, followed by forename or given name. When in doubt and you cannot tell which is the surname, give the name as it appears, and do not invert it (eg, Glenn Michael).

DC.Publisher

Example: <meta name="DC.Publisher.CorporateName" content="" scheme="AACR2">

Definition: The entity, bureau, or agency responsible for providing the web services. Agencies should use department or another appropriate entity name.
How used: The DC.Publisher is displayed in the source view of the page. Advanced searching will allow users to find pages by a certain publisher, thereby increasing searching power considerably.
Importance: This term would be of value where the user is looking for documents produced by a certain organization.
Format: If the creator and publisher are the same, do not repeat the name in DC.Publisher. To avoid ambiguity, spell out (do not abbreviate) "Wisconsin". You may abbreviate the word "Department" or "Division" etc.

DC.Subject

Example: <meta name="DC.Subject" content="" scheme="WI-CV">

Definition: The Dublin Core version of "keywords". One or more terms that are the subject of the page. All terms appearing in DC.Subject must be from the Wisconsin thesaurus. If the term is not in the thesaurus, it should not appear in this tag.
How used: The DC.Subject is displayed in the source view of the page. Advanced searching will allow users to set parameters for searching and will retrieve pages with terms set by the user. The CCE component of the state's search engine uses terms found in DC.Subject to create the topical index. The CCE spiders state web pages frequently and re-creates a fresh topical index on a regular basis. If you want your users to find your material using the topical index, use this tag thoughtfully.
Importance: Very important. The state's search engine gives a term appearing in DC.Subject considerable weight.
Format: Text. A few words or phrases chosen from the Wisconsin thesaurus.

Why use terms from the official thesaurus only?

The terms in the official Wisconsin thesaurus have been carefully crafted for consistency and structure. Further the search engine can then group together pages with these subject terms easily. Use as many subject terms from the thesaurus as you feel appropriate. Generally speaking three terms is a good number, but more or less might be better for some documents or webpages. If you don't see a term that fits for the document you want to describe or have other questions on the thesaurus contact Shiela.

Do I have to add subject tags to every page?

No, select the most appropriate page(s). Keep in mind that the portal search engine uses these terms so if you want the document or page to be findable easily then you should add this tag.

How do I know what an appropriate page(s) is for subject tag?

What is an "appropriate" page? Should you tag every page with subject? Exactly what this means depends on the agency's intent for its pages. Since the overall objective of this effort is to help end users find what they are looking for, agencies should tag the pages they want users to find.

Here are some points that may help make this decision:

• The information should be important to the general public (end users);
• Tag top-level pages; the higher in the agency pyramid a page appears, the more likely it is to need subject tagging. The agency home page and division home pages should probably be tagged, as should the home pages for each significant program area;
• The information is of lasting value, as opposed to temporary notices;
• If the information is of interest to only a small group of "insiders" who know the location of the information, it may not be necessary to add tags;
• Things like internal meeting minutes, status reports for internal use, working papers, etc., do not need tagging.

Last updated on 7/9/2009 6:49:41 AM