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Top-level Element: <subject>
Guidelines for Use<subject> is a container element that contains subelements relating to the subject of the resource. Each subelement represents a type of subject, for example, <temporal> expresses a time period. The subject may be simple, meaning a single term expressed as a subelement of <subject>, or complex: multiple terms each expressed as a subelement of <subject>. For example, if it is a place, use <subject><geographic>: E.g. <subject><geographic>Chicago</geographic></subject> If the term is none of the other types, use <subject><topic>: E.g. <subject><topic>Musicology</topic></subject> An example of a complex subject is "History of 18th century Chicago, Illinois where “18th century” is a temporal expression, and “Chicago” is a geographic term. This is expressed as: <subject> <geographic>Chicago (Ill.)</geographic> <temporal>18th century</temporal> </subject> If the subject is a controlled heading from an authoritative list, use the authority or authorityURI attribute to indicate which authority was used, and/or the valueURI attribute. If none of these attributes is present, the expression is assumed to be uncontrolled. When supplying authority, authorityURI or valueURI for complex subjects these attributes should be recorded on the <subject> element level only if they relate to the subject in its entirety. Otherwise record the attributes on the <subject> subelements to which they pertain. The Library of Congress maintains an online listing of Subject Heading and Term Source Codes. New subject authority vocabularies can be registered with the Library of Congress; email [email protected] to suggest an authority. If researchers are likely to be interested in the form or genre of an item, and not its subject content, using the MODS top-level <genre> element (not the <genre> subelement under <subject>) may be most appropriate. Subelement: <topic>
Guidelines for UseIf the precise type of subject subelement string is unknown, <topic> is used--because <subject> is a container element. Subelement: <geographic>
Guidelines for UseIf the geographic name is part of a corporate body name (i.e., United States. Senate), it is coded with the <name> subelement, not <geographic>. Subelement: <temporal>
Guidelines for Use<temporal> may be expressed as a controlled subject term or as a structured date with an encoding attribute. Normalized dates are critical for effective searching. Dates should be formatted consistently, following the structure dictated by the formatting source used. If a structured date is used, indicate the formatting source using the encoding attribute. Use of the keyDate attribute is not recommended. Subelement: <titleInfo>
Guidelines for UseTo express the title of a resource, use <titleInfo> as a top-level element, not as a subelement of <subject>. Use <titleInfo> as a subelement of <subject> when the subject of the resource is the work that has that title. See <titleInfo> section of the guidelines for more explicit guidance. Subelement: <name>
Guidelines for UseUse <name>
Examples: <subject> <name type="personal"> <namePart>Arthur Mitchell</namePart> <nameIdentifier>http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q3753500</nameIdentifier> </name> </subject> <subject> <name type="personal" authority="naf" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79041870"> <namePart>Woolf, Virginia</namePart> <namePart type="date">1882-1936</namePart> <nameIdentifier>https://id.loc.gov/rwo/agents/n79041870</nameIdentifier> </name> </subject> Subelement: <genre>
Guidelines for UseIf describing the genre of a resource as a whole, use the main <genre> element. This <genre> subelement is used to facilitate mapping of subject authorities that use form subdivisions. Suppose you want to express: - The subject: Photography--History--19th century - The genre: Exhibitions Depending on institutional cataloging policy, the genre could be expressed either: (1) as part of the subject; or (2) as a top-level element pertaining to the resource. The first case would be expressed as follows: <mods> <subject valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2010106177" displayLabel="Photography--History--19th century--Exhibitions"> <topic valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85101206">Photography</topic> <topic valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85061212">History</topic> <temporal valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2002012475">19th century</temporal> <genre valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99001275">Exhibitions</genre> </subject> </mods> And the second: <mods> <genre valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/genreForms/gf2014026098">Exhibition catalogs</genre> <subject valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2010106163" displayLabel="Photography--History--19th century"> <topic valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85101206">Photography</topic> <topic valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85061212">History</topic> <temporal valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2002012475">19th century</temporal> </subject> </mods> Specific Attribute Informationtype Definition
Distinguishes different aspects of genre, such as class or style.
Application
Optional; use if desired to categorize the genre.
Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic>
Guidelines for Use<hierarchicalGeographic> is a wrapper element for the hierarchical form of place name. This form can be applied to the degree of specificity that is known or relevant and used to generate browsable hierarchies. Explicit inclusion of the complete hierarchy is of potential benefit for automated consultation of a gazetteer to derive map coordinates or to support a map-based interface. In general, record the term most commonly used in the original language or its translation for the geographic entity. If a term from an authorized vocabulary is prefered, the authority attribute group may be employed. The subelement <state> is used for first order political divisions, which may be expressed using different terms depending on the country. For instance, the first order political division in the U.S. is state; in the United Kingdom, England, Scotland, and Wales it is country and the next order division (e.g. Yorkshire) is county. Specific Subelement InformationThe following subelements are defined for <hierarchicalGeographic>. In general, use the term most commonly used in the original language or its translation for the geographic entity. First order political divisions may have different terms depending on the country. For instance, first order political divisions in the U.S. are states; in United Kingdom, England, Scotland, and Wales are countries and next order divisions (e.g. Yorkshire) are counties. Each subelement has the following attributes: lang; xml:lang; script; transliteration; level (to indicate hierarchical level) and period (to indicate when the entity existed and that it no longer exists)--as well as the authority attribute group: authority, authorityURI, and valueURI. The subelements region, citySection, area, and state also have the following respective specific attributes: regionType; citySectionType; areaType; stateType. Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><continent>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3, 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. Application
The value should be an indication of when the entity existed (it could simply be a date). Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><country>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3 , 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. Application
The value should be an indication of when the entity existed (it could simply be a date). Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><region>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3, 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. Application
The value should be an indication of when the entity existed (it could simply be a date). regionType Definition
A specific type of region, such as ‘religious’ or ‘tourism’. Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><state>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3, 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. stateType Definition
The specific term used in various countries: state, province, canton, Länder, etc. Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><territory>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3, 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. Application
The value should be an indication of when the entity existed (it could simply be a date). Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><county>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3, 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. Application
The value should be an indication of when the entity existed (it could simply be a date). Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><city>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3 , 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. Application
The value should be an indication of when the entity existed (it could simply be a date). Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><citySection>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3, 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. Application
The value should be an indication of when the entity existed (it could simply be a date). citySectionType Definition
A specific type of city section, for example: neighborhood, park, or street. Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><island>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3, 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. Application
The value should be an indication of when the entity existed (it could simply be a date). Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><area>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3, 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. Application
The value should be an indication of when the entity existed (it could simply be a date). areaType Definition
A specific type of area, for example national park, river, Indian reservation, etc. Subelement: <hierarchicalGeographic><extraterrestrialArea>
Specific Attribute Informationlevel Definition
The level within the geographic hierarchy. There is no need for @level for simple cases where the hierarchy is easily inferred. This attribute is useful, however, for cases when the hierarchy depends on context: When two places have the same level (e.g. the intersection of two streets), when the same place type is supplied more than once (e.g. two neighborhoods where one is contained within the other). Application
It is recommended that levels begin with 1 (for highest level) and are consecutive, however this is not mandated. Levels could, for example, be 3, 5, and 9. period Definition
Indicates when the entity existed and that it no longer exists. Application
The value should be an indication of when the entity existed (it could simply be a date). Subelement: <cartographics>
Guidelines for Use<cartographics> is a container element for the subelements described below. If desired, cartographic elements may be bound together with a geographic name (hierarchical or otherwise) within a <subject> element. <cartographics> can be extended using another schema. Subelement: <cartographics><coordinates>
Guidelines for UseOne or more statements may be supplied. If one is supplied, it is a point (i.e., a single location); if two, it is a line; if more than two, it is an n-sided polygon where n=number of coordinates assigned. No three points should be co-linear, and coordinates should be supplied in polygon-traversal order. Subelement: <cartographics><scale>
Guidelines for Use<scale> may include any equivalency statements, vertical scales, or vertical exaggeration statements for relief models and other three-dimensional items. Subelement: <cartographics><cartographicExtension>
Guidelines for Use<cartographicExtension> may include more detailed information than that accommodated by the MODS schema. Examples are a center point, bounding box, or other syntaxes for expressing coordinates. Subelement: <cartographics><projection>
Guidelines for UseIncludes the name of the projection and any associated information related to the properties of the projection, where applicable. Subelement: <geographicCode>
Guidelines for UseIf the geographic code represents the same entity as represented by a <geographic> subelement both are included within the same <subject> element. If a geographic code and a geographic entity represent different areas they go in separate <subject> elements. The geographic code should be from an established encoding scheme, such as the MARC List for Countries, MARC List for Geographic Areas, or “iso3166”. Subelement: <occupation>
Guidelines for Use<occupation> is used when the subject term refers to an occupation. (It is not used to list the occupations of the creators of the described materials.) It is recommended to use terminology from an established controlled vocabulary, such as the Library of Congress Demographic Group Terms (LCDGT). EXAMPLESGeneral Best Practices:valueURI, authority, and authorityURI attributes: Supplying valueURI, authority and authorityURI attributes is optional. When supplying valueURIs, the authority and/or authorityURI are superfluous, but may be included (as in the examples below) for clarity. 1. Simple subjectBest practice: When supplying authority, authorityURI or valueURI for simple subjects (subject element with one subelement) the attributes should be recorded on the subelement level. A. With topic subelement: <subject>
<topic authority="lcsh" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85075538">Learning disabilities</topic>
</subject>
<subject>
<topic authority="ericd"
>Career Exploration</topic> </subject>
<subject>
<topic valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/childrensSubjects/sj96004989">Cats</topic>
</subject>
<subject>
<topic authority="aat" valueURI="http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055299">vandalism</topic>
</subject>
<subject>
<topic authority="lcsh" authorityURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh89000851">Kayaking</topic>
</subject>
B. With name subelement: <subject>
< name type="personal" authority="naf" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79041870">
<namePart>Woolf, Virginia</namePart>
<namePart type="date">1882-1936</namePart>
</subject>
<subject>
< name type="personal" authority="naf">
<namePart>Garcia Lorca, Federico</namePart>
<namePart type="date">1898-1936</namePart>
</subject>
C. With geographic subelement: <subject>
< geographic authority="naf">Unites States</geographic>
</subject>
D. With temporal subelement: <subject>
<temporal>Geschichte 1066-1076</temporal>
</subject>
E. With titleInfo subelement: <subject>
<titleInfo type="uniform" authority="naf">
<title>Missale Carnotense<title>
</titleInfo>
</subject>
2. Complex subjectBest practice: When supplying authority, authorityURI or valueURI for complex subjects (subject element with multiple <subject> subelements) these attributes should be recorded on the <subject> element level only if they relate to the subject in its entirety. Otherwise record the attributes on the <subject> subelements to which they pertain. A. Encoded as one string using double-dashes to separate subject parts. ValueURI for the entire string may be added if available: <subject>
<topic authority="lcsh" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008110442">Railroads--West (U.S.)--Maps</topic>
</subject>
B. Parsed into subelements: Alternatively, the example above may be encoded as the following (an XSLT stylesheet may be used to generate hyphens in the string for display): <subject authority="lcsh"valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008110442 displayLabel="Railroads--West (U.S.)--Maps">
<topic authority="lcsh" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85110904"> Railroads</topic>
<geographic authority="lcsh" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85146140">West (U.S.)</geographic> <genre valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99001269">Maps</genre> </subject>
In the following example, no value URI for the entire string exists. The URIs identify the separate entities reflected in the various subelements. The top level is not coded lcsh since the preferred label of the authority is used for Tippah County (Miss.) and therefore the subject element in its entirety is not following lcsh: <subject>
<topic authority="lcsh" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85111739">Real property</topic>
<geographic authority="naf" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79138969"> Mississippi</geographic> <geographic authority="naf" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82104412">Tippah County (Miss.)</geographic> <genre valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99001269">Maps</genre> </subject>
C. With geographic subelement: <subject authority="lcsh">
<geographic>United States</geographic>
</subject>
D. With temporal subelement: <subject>
<temporal encoding="iso8601">197505</temporal>
</subject>
<subject>
<temporal encoding="w3cdtf">1975-05-15</temporal>
</subject>
<subject>
<temporal encoding="w3cdtf" point="start">2001-09-11</temporal>
<temporal encoding="w3cdtf" point="end">2003-03-19</temporal> </subject>
E. With titleInfo subelement <subject>
<titleInfo type="uniform" authority="naf">
<title>Missale Carnotense</title>
</titleInfo>
</subject>
F. With name subelement and topical subdivision: <subject>
<name type="personal" authority="naf">
<namePart>Sayers, Dorothy L. (Dorothy Leigh), 1893-1957</namePart>
<topic authority=lcsh authorityURI=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh9900496">Characters</topic> </name>
</subject>
G. With name subelement and genre subelement: <subject authority="lcsh">
<name type="personal" authority="naf" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79071110">
<namePart>Edmondston, Catherine Devereux</namePart>
<namePart type="date">1823-1875</namePart> </name>
<genre authority="lcsh" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99001602">Diaries</genre> </subject>
H. With topic subelement and geographic subelement: <subject>
<topic authority="gnd" valueURI="http://d-nb.info/gnd/4451062-7">Transformation</topic>
<geographic authority="geonames" valueURI="http://www.geonames.org/1496745">Novosibirsk</geographic> </subject>
I. With hierarchical geographic subelement: <subject>
<hierarchicalGeographic>
<country>Canada</country>
<city>Vancouver</city> </hierarchicalGeographic>
</subject>
<subject>
<hierarchicalGeographic>
<country>United States</country>
<state>Mississippi</state> <county>Harrison</county> <city>Biloxi</city> </hierarchicalGeographic>
</subject>
<subject>
<hierarchicalGeographic>
<country level="1">United Kingdom</country>
<country level="2">England</country>
<region>North West</region>
<county>Cumbria</county>
<area areaType="national park">Lake District</area>
</hierarchicalGeographic>
</subject>
<subject>
<hierarchicalGeographic>
<country>United States</country>
<state>Rhode Island</state>
<city>Providence</city>
<citySection citySectionType="neighborhood" level="1">East Side</area>
<citySection citySectionType="neighborhood" level="2">Blackstone</area>
</hierarchicalGeographic>
</subject>
<subject>
<hierarchicalGeographic>
<city>Washington</city>
<citySection citySectionType="neighborhood" level="1">Capitol Hill</area>
<citySection citySectionType="park" level="2">Lincoln Park</area>
</hierarchicalGeographic>
</subject>
J. With cartographic subelement: <subject>
<cartographics>
<coordinates>E 72°--E 148°/N 13°--N 18°</coordinates>
<scale>1:22,000,000</scale> <projection>Conic proj</projection> </cartographics>
</subject>
With geographicCode subelement: <subject>
<geographic authority='lcsh">United States</geographic>
<geographicCode authority="iso3166">us</geographicCode> </subject>
<subject>
<geographicCode authority="marcgac">n-us-md</geographicCode>
</subject>
<subject> <geographicCode authority="iso3166">us</geographicCode>
</subject>
K. With occcupation subelement: <subject authority="aat">
<occupation>printmaker</occupation>
</subject>
L. With multiple subelements: <subject>
<topic>Bluegrass music</topic>
<temporal>1971-1980</temporal> </subject>
<subject>
<hierarchicalGeographic>
<territory authority="gacs" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/geographicAreas/i-bi">British Indian Ocean Territory</geographic> </hierarchicalGeographic> </subject>
<subject>
<cartographics>
<coordinates>6 00 S, 71 30 E</coordinates>
</cartographics>
</subject>
<subject authority="lctgm">
<topic>Educational facilities</topic>
<geographic>Washington (D.C.)</geographic> <temporal>1890-1910</temporal> </subject>
<subject authority="rvm" lang="fre">
<topic>Église catholique</topic>
<topic>Histoire</topic> <temporal>20e siècle</temporal> </subject>
<subject authority="lcsh" valueURI= "http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85069617
"> <topic authority="lcsh" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85069615
">Japanese drama</topic> <temporal authority="lcsh" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2002012465">Edo period, 1600-1868</temporal>
</subject>
MAPPINGSMARC Mapping (Bibliographic)See MARC Mapping to MODS for the <subject> element. Dublin Core MappingSee MODS to Dublin Core Metadata Element Set Mapping. Last Updated: November 8, 2022 |