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Metadata Fields and Standards

This digital collection documents the relationship between fashion history and visual culture through selected covers of The New Yorker and fashion objects from the 1920s to the 1990s. The metadata structure was designed to support discoverability, historical interpretation, and interoperability between digital cultural heritage collections. The template combines general descriptive metadata standards with specialized vocabularies relevant to fashion, museum collections, and cultural heritage documentation.

The metadata fields were created to describe not only the physical characteristics of fashion objects, but also their historical, stylistic, and cultural context. Controlled vocabularies and authority files were integrated whenever possible in order to improve consistency and standardization across records.

Resource Template

Field Label

Display Label

Vocabulary

Property

Data Types
Title Title Dublin Core dcterms:title  
Description Description Dublin Core dcterms:description  
Date Date Dublin Core dcterms:date  
Date Issued Date Issued Dublin Core dcterms:issued  
Publisher Publisher Dublin Core dcterms:publisher  
Creator Artist Dublin Core dcterms:creator Text, Getty ULAN, LC Name Authority File
Subject Fashion Item Dublin Core dcterms:subject Text, URI, Getty AAT, LC Subject Headings
has context Fashion style VRA Ontology vra:hasContext Text, URI
designer designer VRA Ontology vra:designer Text, URI, Getty ULAN, LC Name Authority File
designed for designed for VRA Ontology vra:designedFor Text, URI, Getty ULAN, LC Name Authority File
Format Measurements Dublin Core dcterms:format  
Medium Materials Dublin Core dcterms:medium Text, URI, Getty AAT, LC Subject Headings
Location Location Curation curation:location Text, LC Cultural Heritage Organizations
Identifier Identifier Dublin Core dcterms:identifier  
custody received by Donor CIDOC CRM Ontology crm:P29_custody_received_by Text, LC Name Authority File

Metadata Fields

Title — dcterms:title

Purpose and Scope: Records the official or commonly used title of the object or magazine cover. Titles help users quickly identify items within the collection.

Standard Used: Dublin Core

Description — dcterms:description

Purpose and Scope: Provides a narrative description of the item, including visual appearance, historical significance, stylistic characteristics, and contextual information relevant to the decade represented.

Standard Used: Dublin Core

Date — dcterms:date

Purpose and Scope: Records the creation date or approximate production date of the object.

Standard Used: Dublin Core

Creator — dcterms:creator

Purpose and Scope: Documents the artist, illustrator, photographer, or creator associated with the object or cover illustration.

Controlled Vocabularies:

  • Getty ULAN
  • LC Name Authority File

Standard Used: Dublin Core

Subject — dcterms:subject

Purpose and Scope: Describes the type of fashion object represented.

Controlled Vocabularies:

  • Getty AAT
  • LCSH

Standard Used: Dublin Core

Fashion Style — vra:hasContext

Purpose and Scope: Identifies broader stylistic and cultural movements connected to the item.

Controlled Vocabularies:

  • Getty AAT
  • Custom textual descriptors

Standard Used: VRA Ontology

 

Descriptive Standards and Controlled Vocabularies

The metadata structure combines multiple standards in order to support interoperability and consistency across cultural heritage collections:

  • Dublin Core for general descriptive metadata
  • VRA Ontology for fashion and visual culture relationships
  • CIDOC CRM for provenance and custody-related information
  • Getty AAT for object types, materials, and stylistic terminology
  • Getty ULAN for artist and designer authority control
  • Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) for creators and donors
  • Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) for thematic classification

Using controlled vocabularies and standardized metadata practices improves discoverability, supports linked data possibilities, and allows the collection to align with broader digital cultural heritage practices used by museums, libraries, and archives.

 

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