Nota Bene: It is highly recommended that the user of this document read the Introduction to obtain a fuller understanding of Dublin Core and its implementation.
The author of web pages should not confuse the DC.title element (MARC 245) with that of the <TITLE> element located directly under the HTML <HEAD> tag. This is the element used by the browser to display in the top left corner in what is known as the window title bar. In reality, two titles need to be assigned to your document. These titles can be exactly the same or different. Shorter, descriptive titles are better for the Web browser <TITLE> element because of the character space limitation of the window title bar. The Dublin Core Title Element, however, can be any length.
The title displayed on Web pages will remind many catalogers and casual readers of the title page found in books. Sometimes the title tells the reader exactly what the book is about and sometimes it remains elusive and keeps him in the dark. Often the title located on the spine (MARC 246) of the book is different than that of the title page. This is another commonality among Web pages using content previously published in print (paper). When a title is entered in the Dublin Core Metadata, the author can assign any title desired even when it makes absolutely no sense to someone looking at it (like some print books). It is recommended, however, the title be as descriptive of the document as possible. The generic title element looks like:
<META NAME="DC.title" CONTENT="The Dublin Core Title Element">Be aware that the punctuation and sometimes capitalization is required in the <HEAD> </HEAD> just as it is required in the document itself.
Titles can be further defined by using any of the three Canberra Qualifiers. The Table below lists some of the qualifer values. As qualifier values become standardized, they will be reflected here as well as in the other fourteen meta elements. Those qulaifiers that are most condusive to interoperability are indicated as default.
| SCHEME | TYPE | LANG |
|---|---|---|
(title that you created) | (usually the first title diplayed) | (default=English) Standard ISO 639 |
more than one is desired or appropriate) | Standard Z3953 | |
the main title but understood without it) (MARC 245 $b) | ||
the title is a translation) (MARC 245 $b) and (MARC 246) | ||
(title used in window title bar) (MARC 246 2nd indicator 7) |
The TYPE qualifer is appended to the title value of the META NAME separated by a full stop (period). For example:
Alternative titles (MARC 245) can be identified by the use of or on the title pages of print materials. Alternative titles have the same scenario in electronic resources. For example:
<META NAME="DC.title" CONTENT="A Proposal for the Use of the Dublin Core for Subject Analysis of Internet Based Information">
<META NAME="DC.title.alternative" CONTENT="Chaos in Shiva-Like Proportions and how the DC can whittle that Puppy Down">
Guenther has stated that all different different titles used (subtitles, translated titles, etc.) should fall under the alternative qualifier. However, this is not condusive to interoperability with MARC format. On the other hand, Knight suggests that each different type of title be provided its own TYPE qualifier, which is condusive to MARC interoperability.
Both the SCHEME qualifier and LANG qualifer are placed in the CONTENT area. The default for the SCHEME qualifier is Internal, and does not have to be appended to the DC.title. Internal means that it is creator supplied. The SCHEME and its value are surrounded by parentheses on the inside of the quote. The LANG qualifer follows the same pattern and is usually placed to the right of the SCHEME data. Keep in mind that the LANG qualifier is the language of the Dublin Core and not the Language of the document, which has its own DC element. The following example uses both the SCHEME and LANG qualifiers.
<META NAME="DC.title" CONTENT="(SCHEME=Internal)(LANG=en) Dublin Core Title Example)">
Send any comments or questions to gfrost@valdosta.edu
Copyright ©1997 by Guy Frost
Last Updated August 3, 1997