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Label |
DC.Subject |
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Definition |
The topic(s) of the content of the resource |
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Purpose |
The Subject element is useful for locating material on a particular topic. For example, ‘Find all information about… adult literacy’. It may also help users determine the relevancy or otherwise of a resource. |
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Obligation |
Mandatory |
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Qualifier |
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Encoding Scheme |
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Examples |
<meta name="DC.Subject" content="information technology; people with disabilities; internet; assistive technology"> alternatively; <meta name="DC.Subject" content="adult literacy"> <meta name="DC.Subject" content="adult education"> <meta name="DC.Subject" content="disadvantaged groups"> |
The subject or topic matter of a resource (what a resource is about), to be expressed as keywords or phrases.
The intent is to capture the concept(s) inherent in a document/resource. Values must be descriptive of the content, ‘the aboutness’, of a document/resource. Subject terms should reflect the specificity of the content being covered. Avoid using terms too general for the material being covered. Concepts or subject matter minor in nature or given only passing reference should not be described in the Subject element.
Please note that terms should be input using the semi-colon delimiter, or alternatively using separate DC.Subject tags.
Terms assigned should be selected from a controlled vocabulary or thesaurus if available, in order to control the content of the element and help achieve a consistency in the use of terms.
Terms input from a controlled vocabulary such as the Public Service Thesaurus (PST) should indicate the scheme in use, as follows;
<meta name="DC.Subject" scheme="PST" content="information technology; people with disabilities; internet; assistive technology">
Resource discovery is the primary purpose in the use of the Subject element.