A major part of digital preservation and the access of digital materials online is metadata. Metadata about files and archives provides the context of the photograph, document, video, or other file and tells the story behind the file. It also allows other people to discover new materials by providing information that can be searched for.

There are many different ways to add metadata to your digital materials, but the Dublin Core metadata standard is a widespread and commonly accepted standard that outlines the different categories of metadata fields that should be used to describe digital materials. It is commonly used among libraries, archives, museums, and other organizations.  

To learn more about Dublin Core, please visit the Dublin Core Metadata Innovation website here. 

Permanent.org currently allows for any metadata standard to be used, including Dublin Core, through the key:value tagging system (learn more here). The following chart shows the crosswalk between Dublin Core elements and Permanent metadata fields, using the key:value tagging system. Other Dublin Core terms can be used through the key:value tag system as well. 

Permanent.org will soon make it easier to use Dublin Core metadata for your materials by adding all Dublin Core elements and select Dublin Core terms as fields in the metadata editor. The following Dublin Core elements and terms will be supported: