Note

Definition

A “catch-all” field for additional information that cannot be entered or does not fit well in other elements.

Where Can the Note Information be Found?

For any item type, information that goes into the note field can come from any part of the item including:

  • the cover

  • the title page

  • table of contents

  • handwritten notes on pages or images

  • examining or reading the text of the item (e.g., inconsistent page numbers)

  • supplementary or accompanying information

How Note Works in the Metadata Form

Screenshot of note element in metadata editing system.
Parts:

  1. Note type – drop-down menu

  2. Note – text field

Repeatable? : Yes - clicking ‘Add’ repeats all field parts

Required?

No (more information)

How Should the Note be Filled in?

General (Display) Note

Guidelines

Examples

  • Include any important information about the item that does not fit in other fields

  • As appropriate, include a contextual statement to clarify the information source

The original contains a silk fiber sample.

  • Put information in quotations when it is copied directly from the source
“Issued May 11, 1918.”
Text at top of map: “A three-mile breakwater, seventeen feet above mean low tide, sixteen feet at the base and five feet at top.”

  • Include Roman numerals from the title

(Also see Serials and Series regarding normalized titles.)
“Vol. IV.”
“Vol. II, No. 3.”

  • Include notes about non-standard or inconsistent page numbers, missing pages or other oddities
The original document is missing pages 15 and 16.
“Volume LXX” on title page is a misprint. It should be “Volume LXXI.”

  • When relevant, include accompanying information that may have come from another source or physical container, e.g., text written on the sleeve of a negative
“S1-JR-41” written on sleeve.
Accompanying information: “Tractor given to him by Mrs. Dick Mitchell.”

  • It might be useful to include background information that relates to the item that is not directly part of the content, e.g.:

    • biographical information about the creator or person in an image

    • history of a pictured building or location

    • collection-level or contextual information

    • etc.

Additional historical context: The Tower of Americas was constructed for the World’s Fair of 1968, known as HemisFair ‘68, which was held from April to October, 1968.

Additional information about the publisher: An important publisher of children’s books during the mid-1800’s in New England. Babcock was particularly known for “toy books” - short, small pamphlets and chapbooks with simple wood cut illustrations.

This is one of a series of photographs taken during the One O’Clock Lab Band’s tour to Mexico, January 26 to February 21, 1967. The United States Department of State sponsored the tour, and the band traveled as representatives of the United States. Directed by Leon Breeden, the 20 member band and their guests, vocalist Carol Lurie and pianist-organist Linda De Leon, toured for 26 days, giving 19 scheduled concerts and two impromptu shows at venues throughout Mexico.

Metadata (Non-Displaying) Note

  • Non-display notes are not visible to the public, but are used for any information important to internal maintenance of records or relevant to the original items

  • In the rare cases that a record has been public and is later hidden for any reason (e.g., due to privacy concerns, copyright issues, etc.), the administrator hiding the record should always include a note explaining why the record is being made non-public with any relevant information or documentation

Guidelines

Examples

This may be an appropriate place to include notes about:

  • decisions to include (or not include) particular information

  • preservation information about the physical items

  • donor or provenance information

  • relevant private personal information (e.g., addresses or contact information) that should not be public

  • sources of information found by editor

  • administrative or digitization information

  • changes based on information received in feedback comments (especially containing personal e-mail addresses or other information that should not be public)

Shortened title was chosen for official title to facilitate discovery.

Conserved in 2002 with donation funds.

Provenance: ca. Guerrero.

Date of image based on movie release in 1953, per imdb.

Per feedback from [name/e-mail address]: the person in this photo is Bob Johnson.

Removed due to factual/production errors.

Digital Preservation Note

  • Digital preservation notes are not explicitly included in the primary public display, but they are also not fully hidden from the public (like non-display notes) and may be included in certain kinds of metadata formats used for harvesting or sharing information

  • This field also contains a number of “legacy” values that documented digitization and metadata creator, software, and hardware information prior to 2009

Guidelines

Examples

This may be an appropriate place to include notes about:

  • who digitized an item, especially if it was done by a vendor

  • when items were digitized

  • hardware/software used to digitize an item, if it is important to document something specific

  • general statements about the quality or peculiarities about the digital copies for staff to know about
This material was digitized by SceneSavers in the Fall of 2023.
This material was digitized by DataBank.
Transferred via direct capture. Source was recorded in 16:9 Aspect Ratio

This may not be an appropriate place to include:

  • any information that should not ever be public (e.g., containing external contact information}

  • depending on the specific collection and context, information about the quality of digitized copies may serve users better when formatted as a display note to let them know what to expect when viewing a digital object
Non-Displaying Note: This user: [name/e-mail] provided additional context about this image.
Display Note: Tape begins in black, then cuts to program.
Display Note: Audio is garbled at the 3:05 mark.

Other Examples

Display Notes

  • Performed in Hebrew with English subtitles.

  • “Volume II.”

  • Pages numbered consecutively though each volume.

  • A related image is available in the Portal at 4.0084c.

  • Earlier images of this site are available in Mr. Goin’s collection at 4.0123a and 6.0018b.

  • Distributed to some depository libraries in microfiche.

  • At head of title: Committee print.

  • Does not show western Texas beyond 7 miles west of San Antonio.

  • Purchased with funds provided by the Friends of the UNT Libraries.

  • “HR-2555”

  • This letter is written on stationery that has a blue image near the top of the page of an airplane flying across a globe with the text “Air Mail,” as well as a red stripe pattern at the top and bottom of the page.

Non-Displaying Notes

  • There was accompanying information not included in the record because it did not appear to match the item.

  • Unverified creator due to conflicting information on duplicate copies.

  • This does not appear to actually be a photo of the Livingston-Hess House, though it is similar.

  • Hidden at the request of project owner because of privacy concerns with the model.

Digital Preservation Notes

  • Digitization completed by Digital Daring Inc. under contract to the University of North Texas Libraries.

  • 2 channels of audio, dubbed from betamax. Picture is grainy and tracking issues from transfer are recorded in.

  • This material was digitized by Scene Savers in the Spring of 2022. Transferred via DVD rip.

  • Digitized from microfilm.

Resources

More Guidelines: