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Metadata Fields in Collection Loader

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The more detailed information you can provide about items in your collection, the easier it will be for researchers to search for and discover your content. Your data powers search, browsing, and discovery on JSTOR.

Download Metadata Template (XLS)

To maximize the discoverability of your collections on JSTOR, we recommend including at minimum the following fields in your metadata spreadsheet when creating your collection:

  • Contributor
  • Title
  • Date
  • Description
  • Subject(s)
  • Location

These fields will be automatically mapped to corresponding fields used in search and filtering/faceting search results on JSTOR. See Auto-mapped fields for details.

Note - Empty fields/fields without a value in the column will not be displayed on the item page on JSTOR.

Auto-mapped fields

When you import your metadata spreadsheet, the Collection Loader will automatically map certain columns to fields in JSTOR based on your column headers. The table below can be used to preview how your fields will be mapped and how to achieve a specific display label if desired.

For example: If you'd like the Contributor field in your photography collection to be labeled "Photographer" on JSTOR, ensure the corresponding column header in your spreadsheet is named either "Photographer" or "Photographers".

Note - In the table below, (s) following a word indicates that the singular or plural of that word in a column header will match. (Matching is not case-sensitive.) For example, a column header named either "Creator" or "Creators" will be mapped to the Contributor field and display as "Creator" on JSTOR.
JSTOR Field Metadata Spreadsheet Column Header JSTOR Display Label
Contributor Author(s) Author
Agent(s) Contributor
Artist(s)
Architect(s)
Builder(s)
Contributor(s)
Creator(s) Creator
Interviewer(s) Interviewer
Interviewee(s) Interviewee
Performer(s) Performer
Photographer(s) Photographer
Speaker(s) Speaker
Title Title(s)

Title

Also displays as header on item page.
Date Earliest Date Not displayed, but used for sorting and filtering.
Latest Date
Date(s) Date
Display Date
Image Date
Temporal Coverage Temporal Coverage
Time Range
Description Description Description
Descriptions
Notes
Duration Duration Duration
Location Creation Creation Site
Creation Site
Country
Countries
Place(s)
Creation Discovery Site Creation/Discovery Site
Discovery Site Discovery Site
Elevation Elevation
Latitude Latitude

Location(s)

 Location
Longitude Longitude
Publisher Location Publisher Location
Coverage Spatial Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Subject Subject(s) Subjects
File Name Filename(s) File Name
File Name(s)
Path
Media

Multiple matching columns

If multiple columns match an auto-mapped field, only the first matching column in the spreadsheet will be mapped to the field, and the remaining matching columns will be imported as custom fields.

For example: If your spreadsheet contains a "Location" column and a "Discovery Site" column, only the "Location" column will be mapped to Location for searching and filtering results on JSTOR. The "Discovery Site" column will be imported as a custom field labeled "Discovery Site", and will be searchable only.

The exception to this is if multiple columns share the same column header exactly. In which case, their values will be combined on import. See Multiple values within a field for more information.

Custom fields

Additional columns in your metadata spreadsheet that don't correspond with one of the Collection Loader's auto-mapped fields will be imported as custom fields in your collection.

  • Custom fields are searchable on JSTOR, but not used when sorting or filtering results as with the Date or Location fields, for example.
  • The column header or name will be used as the display label for custom fields on the item page on JSTOR.

Date fields

The Date field is used for both display on the item page (with the exceptions of Earliest Date and Latest Date) and when searching, sorting, and filtering results on JSTOR. Since the Date field is a text field, you may enter your item date(s) in any format.

Multiple values within a field

If you have items with multiple values for a single field you wish to be listed separately on JSTOR, there are two ways to achieve this in the Collection Loader:

  • Use pipe-delimited values - Separate your values with a pipe (|) character.
    • For example: Garden & Landscape|Horticulture|Flowers in the "Subject" column will be parsed as three separate subject headings on JSTOR.
  • Use multiple columns - Multiple columns with the same column header will be combined into a single field on import.
    • For example: Two columns, both named "Title", will be combined into a single Title field on import, and their values will appear on separate lines under the "Title" field on JSTOR.

Adding or removing fields in a collection

At this time, it's not possible to add, edit, or remove fields from a collection after its initial creation. You can, however, edit an individual item's metadata. See Add, Delete, and Edit Items in Collection Loader for more information.

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