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Contributions and Related Elements

Introduction

The purpose of the Contributions and Related Elements chapter of the Lifecycle Data Requirements Guide is to offer a framework that explains the elements (fields) used to capture metadata contributed by the public (Citizen Archivists), partners, stakeholders, and staff to the National Archives Catalog. This chapter of the guide includes data requirements that define NARA contribution types and provide guidelines for the contributions in the Catalog and on Archives.gov.

Catalog contributions enhance descriptions with information and input from Citizen Archivists, staff, and partners that facilitate discoverability of the content in the Catalog. Contributions can be made to both archival descriptions and digital objects. There are two categories of contribution related elements:

  • Contributions: Contribution Types
  • Attributions: Attribution Types and Contributor Names

 

The Framework

The framework for each element consists of:

  • a table of characteristics
  • definition, purpose, relationship, and guidance statements
  • examples

The table of characteristics contains information about the data structure of the element and the rules that affect how it can be used. The definition, purpose, relationship, and guidance statements explain what contributions are. The authority list of contribution types defines what the contribution type is, what it does, how it relates to other types, and how to use it. References to contribution types are in bold. Examples are shown in gray-shaded boxes and illustrate how information should be entered.

The Characteristics

The characteristics of each contribution type may include:

  • whether the contribution type is repeatable
  • whether the contribution is editable
  • the data type and character length for the contribution type
  • the description level(s) at which the contribution type is available
  • contribution source types available for attribution
  • whether it is a publicly displayed element

The characteristics of each attribution type may include:

  • whether the attribution type is repeatable
  • whether the attribution name is editable
  • the data type and character length for the attribution type
  • the contribution types for which the attribution type is available
  • contribution source types available for attribution
  • whether it is a publicly displayed element

What is Mandatory?

Contributions are not mandatory. Citizen Archivists, volunteers from the public, NARA partners, and NARA staff voluntarily opt into adding contributions to the Catalog and sharing a contributor name affiliated with their contributions. Attributions of content created through artificial intelligence or provided by NARA partners are mandatory to support transparency and traceability.

What is Repeatable?

Repeatable means the contribution type may be entered more than once in one description. For example, a file unit can have more than one tag and comment.

An individual digital object can only have one transcription and only one translation for any given language, although translations into multiple languages are allowed.

What is a Edit Type?

There are three edit status types:

  • Read Only: Uneditable, provided by NARA staff or NARA partner, and can be deleted, overwritten/replaced, but not edited
  • Editable: Contributors can edit collaboratively and edit each other’s contributions and can edit machine-generated Optical Character Recognition (OCR) content.
  • Editable by Original Contributor Only: Only the original contributor can edit, update, or delete the contribution, and it is read only for all other users.

What is Public Element?

Public Element indicates whether or not the contribution is displayed or is only searchable in the index.

 

Part One - Contributions

 

Contribution Types

 

Part Two - Attributions

Attribution Types and Contributor Names

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