How to define metadata

This guide will help you define the metadata for your Open Terms Archive collection.

Prerequisites

• A text editor.
• Basic understanding of the YAML syntax.
• Your collection’s basic information ready.

Steps

1. Create a new file named metadata.yml in your collection’s root directory.

2. Define the required basic information:

   name: "Your Collection Name"    # Keep it under 3 words
   id: "your-collection-id"        # Create a simple dash-separated identifier
   tagline: "Brief description"    # Write a one-line collection summary
   languages: ["en"]               # List ISO 639 language codes
   jurisdictions: ["US"]           # List ISO 3166-2 country codes
   

3. Add detailed description and repositories URLs:

   description: "A more detailed explanation of your collection's purpose"
   dataset: "https://github.com/YourOrg/your-collection-versions/releases"
   declarations: "https://github.com/YourOrg/your-collection-declarations"
   versions: "https://github.com/YourOrg/your-collection-versions"
   snapshots: "https://github.com/YourOrg/your-collection-snapshots"
   

4. Define tracking periods:

   trackingPeriods:
     - startDate: "YYYY-MM-DD"     # When tracking begins
       schedule: "0 0 * * *"       # Cron expression for frequency
       serverLocation: "City, CC"  # Server location (City, Country code)
   

5. Define governance structure:

   governance:
   - name: "Host entity"
     url: "https://entity-website.com"
     logo: "https://path-to-logo.png"
     roles: ["curator", "maintainer"]
   - name: "Admin entity"
     url: "https://admin-website.com"
     logo: "https://path-to-logo.png"
     roles: ["administrator"]
   

6. Add optional fields as needed:

   logo: "https://path-to-collection-logo.png"
   donations: "https://donation-page-url.com"
   

7. Validate your YAML syntax using a YAML validator.