Importing Digital Heritage Items
User roles
Administrator, Mukurtu manager, Roundtrip manager
Import templates can be created and downloaded from your own site at /admin/import/format (linked on the dashboard as "Import format information"). For more information on digital heritage metadata fields, refer to Digital Heritage Item Metadata Fields.
Digital heritage items
| Field Name | Description | Format Information |
|---|---|---|
| Required | Cannot be empty | |
| Title | A short, descriptive name for the digital heritage item. The title should give users useful information about the item when browsing or searching. Titles do not have to be unique. | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| Cultural protocols > Protocols | IDs, UUIDs, or names of the cultural protocols, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. If using names, they must be exact and match only a single protocol. | |
| Cultural Protocols > Sharing Setting | Either 'Any' or 'All', case insensitive. | |
| Category | Categories are high-level descriptive terms that help users browse and discover digital heritage items. Each site defines their own set of categories to reflect the scope of their items. Each digital heritage item requires at least one category, but more can be selected as needed. Categories must first be created by a Mukurtu Manager. | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. |
| ID | Only used when updating existing digital heritage items, not when creating new digital heritage items. | Integer. |
| Required | Will autofill if empty | |
| UUID | A UUID will be generated on import. | UUID (e.g., 6b77cc9e-5fdf-4750-891e-e705b7bf323b) value. |
| Mukurtu Essentials | ||
| Media assets | Media assets are a key element of most digital heritage items, though they are not required. Supported media types are images, documents, video, audio, and embed code. Digital heritage items can include more than one media asset, and each media asset can be a different media type. Media assets can be assigned a different cultural protocol from the digital heritage item to allow differential access to the media assets and metadata. | IDs, UUIDs, or titles of the references, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each title must be exact and match only one item. |
| Summary | A short summary of the digital heritage item. The summary should supplement the title and help distinguish between similar items. The summary is displayed as part of the item preview when browsing the site. | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| Creator | A creator is the person or group primarily responsible for making or providing the core media assets or knowledge represented in a digital heritage item. While a creator is usually a single person, it could also be a clan, tribe, culture group, or organization. A digital heritage item can have multiple creators. Examples include a basket designer or weaver, knowledge holders who provided information for a book, a book’s author or illustrator, singers, songwriters, dancers, or performers. Names can be in any format that is appropriate for the content, eg: "John Smith" or "Smith, John". Note that this is not the user publishing the digital heritage item on the site - that information is recorded in the automated author field. | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. New terms will be created if they do not already exist. |
| Contributor | A contributor is a person or group who aided in the making of a digital heritage item. While a contributor is usually a single person, it could also be a clan, tribe, culture group, or organization. A digital heritage item can have multiple contributors. Examples include someone who wrote, compiled, or illustrated a book or recorded a song, the people who edited or produced a film, or people collaborated or consulted on a project. Names can be in any format that is appropriate for the content, eg: "John Smith" or "Smith, John". | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. New terms will be created if they do not already exist. |
| Original date | The creation date of the media asset or information represented in the digital heritage item. The date should be as precise as possible, and either the year, year-month, or year-month-day can be entered. Note that this is not the date the digital heritage item was published on the site - that is recorded with an automated date stamp. | YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD value. |
| Date description | Used to supplement the original date field, or when a precise creation date of the media asset or information represented in the digital heritage item is not known. Examples include "Summer 1995" and "circa 1800s". | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| Mukurtu Core | ||
| Cultural narratives | Cultural narratives include historical or social context, expert community knowledge, community stories, and other relevant cultural context for the digital heritage item. For example, if the item is a basket this field may contain a narrative from the basket maker about their technique, or it may tell a story contrasting how the baskets were used by previous generations and how they are used today. | Formatted text. |
| Traditional knowledge | Traditional knowledge includes in-depth community-specific knowledge about the digital heritage item. It is often used to provide information of social, spiritual, or esoteric significance. For example, if the item is a basket, this field may contain community, tribe, or clan-specific knowledge about the significance of design that is not widely known or that is specific that that community. | Formatted text. |
| Description | Descriptions provide an account, explanation, or description of the digital heritage item or media asset. This may include physical characteristics, content information, an explanation of what is depicted, digitization and processing information, general notes, and any other relevant information that does not fit into a more structured field. | Formatted text. |
| Permissions and Rights | ||
| Local Contexts Projects | This field will apply all of the Labels from the selected Local Contexts Project(s) to the digital heritage item. | Project titles or IDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. |
| Local Contexts Labels and Notices | This field allows selective application of one or more Labels from any available Local Contexts Project to the digital heritage item. | Label or notice names, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. |
| Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers | The ID or UUID of the paragraph. | |
| Rights and Usage | A statement about the appropriate rights and usage regarding the digital heritage item, media asset, or presented knowledge. This may include identifying the legal or traditional rights holder. If the rights holder should be contacted for permission to use, reproduce, circulate, reference, or cite the item, provide their contact information. | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| Rights Statements | "RightsStatements.org provides standardized rights statements that can be used by cultural heritage institutions to indicate the copyright status of digital objects that they make available online, either on their own website or via aggregation platforms. These rights statements are high level summaries of the underlying rights status of the digital objects that they apply to. These rights statements are intended to be used in addition to (more detailed) rights information that institutions already have and not to replace existing information." For more information, visit rightsstatements.org. | The value or the label of allowed values. |
| Creative Commons Licenses | Creative Commons licenses provide a standardized way for copyright holders to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law, and to specify the ways in which their work may be altered, shared, and used. For more information, visit creativecommons.org. | The value or the label of allowed values. |
| Additional Fields | ||
| Type | Type is the broad nature, genre, or function of the media asset(s) represented in the digital heritage item. Examples include Image, Text, Sound, Video, or Physical Object. | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. New terms will be created if they do not already exist. |
| Format | Format is the specific physical and/or digital properties of the media asset(s) represented in the digital heritage item. This may include details about the physical format (eg: pamphlet, glass slide, open reel tape), duration (eg: 90 minutes), extent (eg: 20 pages, 11 sheets), dimensions (eg: 4x6", 12x6x8cm), file format (eg: PDF, JPG, MP3), or additional information as needed. | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. New terms will be created if they do not already exist. |
| Identifier | A unique, unambiguous reference to the digital heritage item or media asset Identifiers are often provided by the contributing institution or organization so the original item can be located. Examples include call numbers or accession numbers. | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| Keywords | Keywords are used to tag digital heritage items to ensure that the items are discoverable when searching or browsing. They are often used to supplement categories as they can be created on the fly and may be more specific. | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. New terms will be created if they do not already exist. |
| Language | Language(s) present in the digital heritage item. This includes the textual metadata and any media assets. | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. New terms will be created if they do not already exist. |
| Map points | A detailed, interactive mapping tool that allows placing and drawing multiple locations related to a digital heritage item. Locations can be single points, paths, rectangles, or free-form polygons. Each location can be given a basic label. This field is also used for the browse by map tools. Note that this mapping data will be shared with the same users or visitors as the rest of the digital heritage item. If the location is sensitive, carefully consider using this field. | The data is stored in a GeoJSON format. |
| Location description | A descriptive field to provide additional context and depth to the location(s) connected to the digital heritage item. | Formatted text. |
| Location (taxonomy) | A named place, or places, that are closely connected to the digital heritage item. Examples include the location where a photo was taken, places named in a story, or the site where an object was created. | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. New terms will be created if they do not already exist. |
| Source | Source provides a reference to the resource, collection, or institution where the digital heritage item is held, described, originated, or contributed. Examples include collections (e.g., “McWhorter Collection”), institutions (e.g.,: “Library of Congress, American Folklife Center), or donors (e.g.,: “Donated by John Smith”). | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| Publisher | The person, organization, or service responsible for publishing the digital heritage item or media asset. | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. New terms will be created if they do not already exist. |
| External links | Links to other records or websites where the digital heritage item is available online, or to other related websites. Examples include the online catalog of the holding repository, or the publisher's listing. | The link in Markdown format: [Title](https://url.com), separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. The URL must be formatted as a full URL, such as https://example.com, and the link text is a plain text field. |
| Subject | Subject reflects the main topic(s) of the digital heritage item. It is primarily used to reference existing controlled vocabularies (eg: Library of Congress Subject Headings or Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus), but a site-specific subject list can be developed as well. | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. New terms will be created if they do not already exist. |
| Transcription | A basic text transcription of an audio or video recording, or of text in an image or document. Including a transcription allows the text to be discoverable when searching for digital heritage items. | This HTML field can support rich text and embedded media assets using the editing toolbar. |
| People | A person or people represented or referenced in the digital heritage item or media asset. This field complements the creator and contributor fields. Examples include people identifiable in a photograph, people speaking in an audio recording, present in a video, or referenced in a document. Names can be in any format that is appropriate for the content, eg: "John Smith" or "Smith, John". | Taxonomy term names, IDs, or UUIDs, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each name must be exact and match only one term in that vocabulary. New terms will be created if they do not already exist. |
| Related Content | ||
| Related content | Digital heritage items can be related to any other site content when there is a connection between those items that is important to show. Examples include multiple photos of a place, objects discussed in an oral history, or dictionary words that appear in a digital heritage item. | IDs, UUIDs, or titles of the references, separated by your selected multi-value delimiter. Each title must be exact and match only one item. |
Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers
Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers is a group of repeatable fields that is handled as "paragraphs" in import. To include this citation, you will need to include a corresponding spreadsheet as well. That spreadsheets are included in this article, but please review General Import Information > Importing Paragraphs for more information on how to format and connect the spreadsheets during an import.
If including Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, the Digital Heritage Item CSV and associated paragraph CSV must be given unique IDs. Those IDs do not have to be uploaded, but are what you will use to tie the paragraphs to the proper digital heritage item.
| Field Name | Description | Format Information |
|---|---|---|
| Import ID, ID, or UUID | When importing a digital heritage item and corresponding Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers paragraph at the same time, use an Import ID | See General Import Information > Identifiers for more information. |
| Name of the Elder or Knowledge Keeper | The Knowledge Keeper's name(s), according to their personal or community preferences. This may include their appropriate title or status. | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| Nation or Community | Including the Knowledge Keeper's Nation or community foregrounds the importance of relationships when it comes to Indigenous knowledges and recognizes which nations hold which teachings. The nation/community element of the citation not only recognizes the important relationship of an Elder or Knowledge Keeper to their nation or community, it helps celebrate the nuances between different community teachings. | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| Treaty Territory | For some individuals, or in relation to some teachings, it may be important for the Knowledge Keeper to acknowledge their relationship to a treaty. This may be particularly important regarding oral teachings about land or treaty rights. Only used if applicable and indicated by the Knowledge Keeper. | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| City or Community they live in | Knowledge Keepers may live in places that differ from the origins of their knowledge, nation, or birthplace, and, in some cases, this may be an important relationship they want to recognize. Only used if applicable and indicated by the Knowledge Keeper. | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| A Brief Description or Title of the Teaching | Information such as the familial provenance of the teaching could be included here. For example, the citation might read: “Story about the sisters of the river as told to [Name of story keeper] by their grandmother [or the grandmother’s name].” This element should be discussed with the Knowledge Keeper, to properly describe or classify the knowledge they are sharing. | This field is plain text and limited to 255 characters. |
| Date | As exact a date as possible is preferred to help other scholars working with the same Knowledge Keeper to identify which teaching was being cited. This can also be key if there are temporal or seasonal restrictions to knowledge, which should be discussed in depth with the Knowledge Keeper if they are considering including that knowledge in a publication that may be read at any time. | YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD value. |