In the context of digital asset management and content management systems, metadata describes the characteristics of an asset or piece of content. Taxonomy refers to the hierarchical classification system used to organize and categorize digital content or information. For example, a standardized list of event types in a website calendar is powered by a taxonomy.
Metadata frameworks and taxonomies, such as those used for digital asset management, or DAM, and content management systems, or CMS, may contain many fields. Read below for a guide to fields present in the SitecoreAI and Sitecore Content Hub systems.
A global taxonomy improves the user experience by establishing standard expectations for university websites. Users will recognize what different event types or story categories mean and these will be the same whether they’re on their college or department website or on MSUToday. The user does not need to relearn how to use story filters as they traverse from website to website because they all behave similarly.
Additionally, global taxonomies facilitate the workflows needed to enable content sharing across websites. They also support analytics. Content that is tagged similarly can be reported on in aggregate.
Units using non-Sitecore content management systems are encouraged to use the same taxonomy used in SitecoreAI. Download a file of the taxonomy details.
Units using MSU’s Sitecore Model Home features (news, events, programs and/or people directory) will use a mix of site-specific and globally standardized taxonomies.
Units using non-Content Hub digital asset management systems are encouraged to use the same taxonomy used in Content Hub. Download a file of the taxonomy details.
Units that use Lightroom and add metadata to visual assets may wish to align their keywords to the Content Hub asset taxonomy. Download a .CSV file of the keywords for uploading into Lightroom.
The following fields are used to classify content in SitecoreAI. These fields power measurement and reporting for content authors and may control content visibility, filtering and search results for website users.
Aligns content to Admissions’ and Career Services’ area of interest pathways for prospective students.
This taxonomy may be used with the People Directory and Programs Finder features to assist prospective students exploring majors, degrees and faculty by area of interest.
The college associated with the content. Used for filtering.
For Content Hub administrators:
The individual who loaded the content in the CMS.
The form or function of the content within the content type category, such as a story type (e.g., Ask the Expert) or web page type (e.g., landing page).
For Content Hub administrators:
The form or function of the content. This field controls the Content Template used for the content item.
For Content Hub administrators:
The general form or functional category of the content, such as Ads/Promotions, Stories or Events.
For Content Hub administrators:
Date the content is created in the CMS.
The individual responsible for reviewing and approving the content for publication.
Major administrative units or functional groups such as units, colleges, programs, departments, offices and centers that are relevant to MSU.
For Content Hub administrators:
Describes the segment or demographic of users for which the content is intended.
For Content Hub administrators:
Date the content is published.
Indicates the content’s current phase in the content management workflow, impacting its publication.
The MSU individual(s) who can be contacted about the content.
The MSU individual(s) who has attribution for the content.
Denotes average read time of a story, based on a 200-words-per-minute calculation. Express as a whole number of minutes.
The form or function of the story content, relating to the Sitecore template used.
Title of the content.
Describes what a piece of content is about in terms of the subject, area of interest or focus area.
Describes the target audience for an event.
For SitecoreAI users: Event audience taxonomies are global to all users. See Events Taxonomy for more information.
Describes the theme of the event.
For SitecoreAI users: Event category taxonomies are global to all users. See Events Taxonomy for more information.
Describes the format or type of event.
For SitecoreAI users: Event type taxonomies are site-specific. University Communications and Marketing has a set of recommended options, but units can edit their site list. See Events Taxonomy for more information
Date the event ends.
Time the event ends.
Start/end date and time for when the event can be promoted on the website.
Details about the location of the event.
URL to register for the event.
Date the event starts.
Time the event starts.
Describes a collection of content regardless of type, format, topic, publication channel or other guided by a strategic effort for a specific goal.
Note: This field is for future uses cases within University Communications and Marketing.
Denotes if story is a news release and how it behaves in MSUToday. For example, appears under “View all” for news releases page.
Describes the degree of effort it took content creators to create of a piece of content, as determined by unit standards.
Note: This field is for future uses cases within University Communications and Marketing.
The related pillar of University Communications and Marketing's strategy supported by content.
The following fields are used to classify photos and assets in Sitecore Content Hub’s DAM and can be used for filtering assets from Content Hub in SitecoreAI and on photos.msu.edu.
A brief textual description of the purpose and meaning of an image that can be accessed by assistive technology or displayed when the image is disabled in the browser. It should not exceed 250 characters.
For Content Hub administrators: This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected; if selected, it is a required field.
Defines the type of asset shown.
For Content Hub administrators: This is a required field for all assets. There are several fields with conditional settings dependent on the asset type selected.
Brief description of the asset. Can also serve as a caption.
For Content Hub administrators: By default, when an asset is created, Content Hub tries to transpose the text in the IPTC property “iptc_captionabstract” into this field.
Note: Description may be similar to alt text, but the intent of the fields differs. A description explains what an asset is, generally. Alt text is intended to assist someone with a visual impairment using a screenreader and would need to include a more detailed description of relevant details as well as include all text that appears in the asset.
Musical ensemble or musical instrument related to the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
Name of event related to the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
Event type/category related to the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
Name of the asset file.
For Content Hub administrators: This is automatically created based on the file name uploaded to Content Hub.
Geolocation related to the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
Keywords used to describe the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: Enter keywords related to the asset, separated by commas. By default, keywords are brought over from an asset’s IPTC property “iptc_keywords.
Physical location such as building, natural area or monument related to the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
Administrative unit/functional group that the asset is associated with in terms of what the asset is "about." This is not the same as which unit "owns" the asset; asset ownership is tagged in the "Owner Group" field (see Workflow Fields, below.)
For Content Hub administrators:
Generic setting, including seasons and scene types, related to the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
Animal species related to the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
Title of the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: This is automatically created based on the file name uploaded to Content Hub. It is shown on the Assets page and on many other pages across Content Hub.
Visual age of person in the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
Role of person in the asset (in relation to MSU).
For Content Hub administrators: This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
Color space of the asset (sRGB, Adobe RGB or undefined).
The total size of the file.
The type of file (e.g., JPG, PNG, MP4).
Denotes level of editing on image.
For Content Hub administrators: This is a Boolean value for selecting whether an asset image has been altered beyond any normal color correction. It defaults to “no.”
The original file name, for traceability.
Copyright notice for claiming the intellectual property for the asset.
Should identify the current owner of the copyright for the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: In Sitecore Content Hub, this is automatically set by the system and cannot be edited.
The credit to person(s) and/or organization(s) required by the supplier of the asset to be used when published.
Is there a signed release form for this asset?
For Content Hub administrators: In Sitecore Content Hub, this is a Boolean value. This field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
For Content Hub administrators: In Sitecore Content Hub, this is automatically created based on the asset uploaded to Content Hub. It is shown in terms of pixels and based on the IPTC property value “height.” This field cannot be edited.
Defines the organizational entity that owns, maintains or answers questions about the asset.
For Content Hub administrators: This field is required in Content Hub.
Name of the photographer or videographer related to the asset.
For Content Hub administrators:
The name of a person or party who has a role in the content supply chain. This could be an agency, a member of an agency, an individual or a combination. Source could be different from Creator and from the entities in the Copyright Notice.
Rights and restrictions on usage.
Further details about usage rights and restrictions.
For Content Hub administrators:
Is this asset used in personalization processes? Noting this prevents changes to the asset that could impact these business processes.
For Content Hub administrators: In Sitecore Content Hub, this is a Boolean value.
Social account that is the source of the asset, such as for user generated content, or UGC.
For Content Hub administrators: In Sitecore Content Hub, this field is only shown if a photo, video or graphic or illustration asset type is selected.
For Content Hub administrators: In Sitecore Content Hub, this is automatically created based on the asset uploaded to Content Hub. It is shown in terms of pixels and based on the IPTC property value “width.” This field cannot be edited.
Duration of the video.
Count of pixels displayed on the screen, e.g., 1920 x 1080.
The number of frames that appear in one second of video.
The workflow status of the asset (e.g., approved, archived, under review).
Person who created the asset.
Date the asset was approved.
Date the asset was created (vs. uploaded/ingested).
Date the asset was modified.
Date the asset was published.
Date the asset was ingested/uploaded (vs. created).
Person/system who modified the asset.
Person/system who uploaded the asset.
Note: Alt text may be similar to description, but the intent of the fields differs. A description explains what an asset is, generally. Alt text is intended to assist someone with a visual impairment using a screenreader and would need to include a more detailed description of relevant details as well as include all text that appears in the asset. Alt text should be entered (or modified) by the individual using an asset to ensure the alt text is appropriate within the context of its use.