Understanding MODS

MODS 3.5 is used for descriptive metadata for our datasets. All datasets and their parts have its own descriptive metadata section. The original intention was that there would be use cases where the parts needed to have separate descriptive metadata. To date, this has never been leveraged and is not a requirement in the future.

While metadata usage is inconsistent across the entire repository, datasets have the following metadata application profile.

Field	Final Xpath	Description
Title / Label	/titleInfo/title	The title or label of the dataset.
Publication Date	originInfo/dateIssued[@keyDate=”yes”] [@encoding=”edtf”]	The date of publication.
Series Title	relatedItem[@type=”series”]/titleInfo/title	The title of the series the datasets belong to.
Submission Date	recordInfo[@displayLabel=”Submission”] /recordCreationDate[@encoding=”w3cdtf”] originInfo/dateCreated	The submission date of the object.
Identifier	identifier[@type=”local”]	Any local identifiers.
Depositor First/Given Name	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Depositor”] /namePart[@type=”given”]	The given name of the depositor.
Depositor Last/Family Name	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Depositor”] /namePart[@type=”family”]	The family name fo the depositor.
Depositor Suffix	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Depositor”] /namePart[@type=”termsOfAddress”]	The termOfAddress of the depositor.
Depositor ORCid iD	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Depositor”] /@vauleURI	The ORCiD identifier of the depositor if provided.
Department 1	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Depositor”] /affiliation[1]	The primary department of the depositor.
Department 2	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Depositor”] /affiliation[2]	The secondary department of the depositor.
Center 1	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Depositor”] /affiliation[3]	The primary center of the depositor.
Center 2	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Depositor”] /affiliation[4]	The secondary department of the depositor.
College	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Depositor”] /affiliation[5]	The college associated with the depositor.
University	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Depositor”] /affiliation[6]	The university associated with the depositor.
Creator-n First/Given Name	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Creator”] /namePart[@type=”given”]	The given name of a creator.
Creator-n Last/Family Name	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Creator”] /namePart[@type=”family”]	The family name of the creator.
Creator-n Suffix	name[role/roleTerm/text()=”Creator”] /namePart[@type=”termsOfAddress”]	The termOfAddress of the creator.
Keywords	subject/topic	The keywords associated with an object.
“Genre”	physicalDescription/form[@authority=”coar”]	Genre terms related to object
“Type of Resource”	typeOfResource	Type of Resource
ISNI Identifier	recordInfo/recordContentSource[@authority=”isni”] /@valueURI	ISNI Identifier
ISNI Label	recordInfo/recordContentSource[@authority=”isni”] /text()	ISNI Label
Related Article Title	relatedItem[@displayLabel=”Article”]/titleInfo/title	Title of a Related Article
Related Article Location	relatedItem[@displayLabel=”Article”]/location/url	URL of Related Article
Related Article Citation	relatedItem[@displayLabel=”Article”] /note[@displayLabel=”Citation”]	Citation to related article
DOI (Published Version)	identifier[@type=”doi”]	DOI of the dataset

Sample MODS record

A MODS record for an object looks similar to this:

Sample MODS record

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mods:mods xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3" xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3" xmlns:etd="http://www.ndltd.org/standards/metadata/etdms/1.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-5.xsd" version="3.5">
  <mods:titleInfo>
    <mods:title>Data Fitness for Use - INTERVIEWS</mods:title>
  </mods:titleInfo>
  <mods:name valueURI="">
    <mods:namePart type="given">Bradley Wade</mods:namePart>
    <mods:namePart type="family">Bishop</mods:namePart>
    <mods:role>
      <mods:roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/dpt">Depositor</mods:roleTerm>
    </mods:role>
    <mods:namePart type="termsOfAddress"/>
    <mods:affiliation/>
    <mods:affiliation/>
    <mods:affiliation/>
    <mods:affiliation/>
  </mods:name>
  <mods:name>
    <mods:namePart type="given">Bradley Wade</mods:namePart>
    <mods:role>
      <mods:roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text" valueURI="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/cre">Creator</mods:roleTerm>
    </mods:role>
    <mods:namePart type="family">Bishop</mods:namePart>
    <mods:namePart type="termsOfAddress"/>
  </mods:name>
  <mods:abstract>This data set is restricted. Contact Wade Bishop (bbisho13@utk.edu) to request access to this data set. This study assesses science data reusers’ information-seeking behavior to determine fitness for use, a concept from consumer behavior research that explains how consumers define and assess product quality and compatibility to satisfy their specific needs. Using a critical incident technique, 22 researchers in earth science described their most recent data discovery resulting in reuse. An interview schedule derived from the FAIR Data Principles framed participants’ information seeking behavior along a sequence of actions, which included finding, accessing, making interoperable, and reusing data.</mods:abstract>
  <mods:subject>
    <mods:topic>Data Discovery</mods:topic>
  </mods:subject>
  <mods:subject>
    <mods:topic>Science</mods:topic>
  </mods:subject>
  <mods:subject>
    <mods:topic>Data Fitness for Use</mods:topic>
  </mods:subject>
  <mods:subject>
    <mods:topic>Critical Incident Technique</mods:topic>
  </mods:subject>
  <mods:physicalDescription>
    <mods:form authority="coar" valueURI="http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_ddb1">dataset</mods:form>
  </mods:physicalDescription>
  <mods:typeOfResource>software, multimedia</mods:typeOfResource>
  <mods:recordInfo>
    <mods:recordContentSource authority="isni" valueURI="http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000123151184">University of Tennessee (Knoxville)</mods:recordContentSource>
    <mods:languageOfCataloging>
      <mods:languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</mods:languageTerm>
    </mods:languageOfCataloging>
    <mods:recordOrigin>Created and edited in general conformance to MODS Guidelines (Version 3.5).</mods:recordOrigin>
  </mods:recordInfo>
  <mods:relatedItem type="series">
    <mods:titleInfo>
      <mods:title>Faculty and Graduate Student Research and Creative Work</mods:title>
    </mods:titleInfo>
  </mods:relatedItem>
  <mods:relatedItem displayLabel="Article">
    <mods:titleInfo>
      <mods:title/>
    </mods:titleInfo>
    <mods:location>
      <mods:url/>
    </mods:location>
    <mods:note displayLabel="citation"/>
  </mods:relatedItem>
  <mods:relatedItem displayLabel="Funder">
    <mods:titleInfo type="alternative">
      <mods:title>US Dept. of Commerce</mods:title>
      <mods:subTitle/>
    </mods:titleInfo>
    <mods:identifier/>
  </mods:relatedItem>
  <mods:identifier type="doi">https://www.doi.org/10.7290/ai1y12d</mods:identifier>
  <mods:note type="preferred citation"/>
  <mods:originInfo>
    <mods:dateCaptured point="start">2017-10-02</mods:dateCaptured>
    <mods:dateCaptured point="end">2017-12-18</mods:dateCaptured>
  </mods:originInfo>
  <mods:typeOfResource>software, multimedia</mods:typeOfResource>
  <mods:recordInfo>
    <mods:recordContentSource authority="isni" valueURI="http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000123151184">University of Tennessee (Knoxville)</mods:recordContentSource>
    <mods:languageOfCataloging>
      <mods:languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</mods:languageTerm>
    </mods:languageOfCataloging>
    <mods:recordOrigin>Created and edited in general conformance to MODS Guidelines (Version 3.5).</mods:recordOrigin>
  </mods:recordInfo>
  <mods:relatedItem type="series">
    <mods:titleInfo>
      <mods:title>Faculty and Graduate Student Research and Creative Work</mods:title>
    </mods:titleInfo>
  </mods:relatedItem>
  <mods:typeOfResource>software, multimedia</mods:typeOfResource>
  <mods:recordInfo>
    <mods:recordContentSource authority="isni" valueURI="http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000123151184">University of Tennessee (Knoxville)</mods:recordContentSource>
    <mods:languageOfCataloging>
      <mods:languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</mods:languageTerm>
    </mods:languageOfCataloging>
    <mods:recordOrigin>Created and edited in general conformance to MODS Guidelines (Version 3.5).</mods:recordOrigin>
  </mods:recordInfo>
  <mods:relatedItem type="series">
    <mods:titleInfo>
      <mods:title>Faculty and Graduate Student Research and Creative Work</mods:title>
    </mods:titleInfo>
  </mods:relatedItem>
  <mods:typeOfResource>software, multimedia</mods:typeOfResource>
  <mods:recordInfo>
    <mods:recordContentSource authority="isni" valueURI="http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000123151184">University of Tennessee (Knoxville)</mods:recordContentSource>
    <mods:languageOfCataloging>
      <mods:languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</mods:languageTerm>
    </mods:languageOfCataloging>
    <mods:recordOrigin>Created and edited in general conformance to MODS Guidelines (Version 3.5).</mods:recordOrigin>
  </mods:recordInfo>
  <mods:relatedItem type="series">
    <mods:titleInfo>
      <mods:title>Faculty and Graduate Student Research and Creative Work</mods:title>
    </mods:titleInfo>
  </mods:relatedItem>
  <mods:typeOfResource>software, multimedia</mods:typeOfResource>
  <mods:recordInfo>
    <mods:recordContentSource authority="isni" valueURI="http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000123151184">University of Tennessee (Knoxville)</mods:recordContentSource>
    <mods:languageOfCataloging>
      <mods:languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</mods:languageTerm>
    </mods:languageOfCataloging>
    <mods:recordOrigin>Created and edited in general conformance to MODS Guidelines (Version 3.5).</mods:recordOrigin>
  </mods:recordInfo>
  <mods:relatedItem type="series">
    <mods:titleInfo>
      <mods:title>Faculty and Graduate Student Research and Creative Work</mods:title>
    </mods:titleInfo>
  </mods:relatedItem>
  <mods:typeOfResource>software, multimedia</mods:typeOfResource>
  <mods:recordInfo>
    <mods:recordContentSource authority="isni" valueURI="http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000123151184">University of Tennessee (Knoxville)</mods:recordContentSource>
    <mods:languageOfCataloging>
      <mods:languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</mods:languageTerm>
    </mods:languageOfCataloging>
    <mods:recordOrigin>Created and edited in general conformance to MODS Guidelines (Version 3.5).</mods:recordOrigin>
  </mods:recordInfo>
  <mods:relatedItem type="series">
    <mods:titleInfo>
      <mods:title>Faculty and Graduate Student Research and Creative Work</mods:title>
    </mods:titleInfo>
  </mods:relatedItem>
  <mods:typeOfResource>software, multimedia</mods:typeOfResource>
  <mods:recordInfo>
    <mods:recordContentSource authority="isni" valueURI="http://www.isni.org/isni/0000000123151184">University of Tennessee (Knoxville)</mods:recordContentSource>
    <mods:languageOfCataloging>
      <mods:languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</mods:languageTerm>
    </mods:languageOfCataloging>
    <mods:recordOrigin>Created and edited in general conformance to MODS Guidelines (Version 3.5).</mods:recordOrigin>
  </mods:recordInfo>
  <mods:relatedItem type="series">
    <mods:titleInfo>
      <mods:title>Faculty and Graduate Student Research and Creative Work</mods:title>
    </mods:titleInfo>
  </mods:relatedItem>
</mods:mods>