Defining Metadata for Your Catalog

The next step is to build the structure of your catalog by defining the metadata you will use. Metadata (see Viewing and Using Metadata) are the information in your catalog that describe your records - keywords and fields detailing subject matter, types of image, etc. Without metadata, your catalog is pointless.

Reed uses the metadata standard of the Visual Resources Association (VRA Core), and we encourage you to do the same. Using VRA Core fields allows you to skip the step of designing your own fields and also makes it easier to share your catalogs ore even just records with other organizations that use VRA Core. For information about VRA Core, visit Reed's VRA help page.

First, create a keyword list. You can do this in a text document in TextEdit or SimpleText or Notepad (each keyword should be delimited by a Return character, and the document should be saved in Plain Text format), or you can write it out on your own and key it into the database by hand (or by student worker hand, if you prefer). See below for further instructions.

After you have picked keywords, decide which other metadata you need, or use VRA Core.

Choose Catalog > Administration (Option-Command-J) to open the Catalog Administration window. The five separate tabs in the window control basic elements of cataloging in the database.

Keywording

• Click the Keywording tab.
  
• To import a saved keyword list, click the Import... button. When the Open window appears, use it to browse through your computers files and find your keyword list. Note that keyword lists must be saved in plain text format. This can be done in TextEdit, SimpleText, or Notepad. Keywords in a list must be separated (delimited) by a return character, or else Portfolio will not be able to distinguish them.
• To add a keyword individually, type it in the text field at the top of the window and press Return or click Add. To remove a keyword, select it and click Delete. To rename it, select it and click Rename, type in a new name, and click OK.
• Recommended: Check Allow Only Keywords From Master List to prevent users from entering their own keywords or own versions of keywords without administrative-level access to the catalog.
• Check Parse Keyword Phrase to count every permutation or combination of words in a keyword phrase as an individual keyword.

Custom Fields

When you have finished adding keywords, click on the Custom Fields tab. (If you want to use VRA Core, Fred Lifton can give you a blank starter catalog with the proper fields built in.)

To create a new field, click the Add... button. In the dialog window that opens, type a descriptive name for the field. Next, set the type of field, which affects the types of data that can be entered.

The six different field types in Portfolio are:

• Date/Time: This field only allows numerical entry of dates and times. Years must fall between 1601 and 2099, inclusive. Dates must be in this format: month as one or two digits, day as one or two digits, year as one, two, or four digits. Time can be written in military or standard time. AM and PM are both recognized, and military time will be translated into standard time, with AM or PM appended. Hours can be typed as as one or two digits, minutes as two digits; seconds are not required, but if used, should be written as two digits.
• Decimal: This field allows numerical entry of decimals, negative and positive. Entries may be up to fifteen characters in length. On creation of the field, you specify the number of decimal places for each entry. Entries with greater will be rejected; entries with fewer will have the remaining spaces filled with zeroes. You can only enter non-decimal numbers if you specify zero decimal places on field creation.
• Integer: This field allows numerical entry of negative and positive whole integers between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647.
• String: A string field can contain any string of characters (sentence, number, special characters), as long as it is no more than 249 characters in length.
• Text Block: A block of text; any characters, multiple lines. No length limit.

Click OK when you've finished structuring your catalog.