Form or Medium
Abstract
Repeatable Multilingual
MODS Element name: <physicalDescription><form>
Short definition: A designation of a particular physical presentation of a resource, including the physical form or medium of material for a resource.
Input guidelines: Characterize the form of the digitized or analog original using terms describing the material, support, or technique. Use authority control, e.g. AAT, TGM, LCGFT or locally controlled vocabularies. This field/element set is not used to describe the content of a resource. Use the Genre and/or Type of Resource elements to describe the content of the resource. If you do not use a controlled vocabulary, check the Type facet on the Collections portal to avoid spelling variants for uncontrolled terms.
Definition
A designation of a particular physical presentation of a resource, including the physical form or medium of material for a resource.
DAMS input form fields
Form(s)/Medium(s)
DAMS form field name | form field type | required | MODS element | Collections Portal display | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Form/Medium Term | text field | no | physicalDescription/form | Type* | The values entered as Form/Medium terms are merged with metadata values for Genre and Type of Resource for display on the Collections portal. If you do not use a controlled vocabulary, check the Type facet on the Collections portal to avoid spelling variants for uncontrolled terms. |
(F/M Term) Authority | dropdown selection
| no | physicalDescription/form[@authority] (attribute of form) | N/A | Authority control for names is strongly recommended. Consult one of the following if applicable: Follow your unit/collection guidelines. |
(F/M Term) Authority URI | text field | see note | physicalDescription/form[@authorityURI] (attribute of form) | N/A |
If you selected "aat", "gmgpc" or "lcgft" in the Authority form field, leave the field blank. The DAMS will automatically add URIs for these authority files. |
Language of Form/Medium Term | text field | no | physicalDescription/form[@lang] (attribute of form) | N/A |
|
MODS Element description
Element <physicalDescription>
http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/userguide/physicaldescription.html
Guidelines for use
<physicalDescription> is a container element that contains all subelements relating to physical description information of the resource. Data is input only within each subelement.
Attributes
Currently no attributes for <physicalDescription> are implemented in the DAMS.
Subelements
The following subelements of name are used in the DAMS:
form
(extent)
(internetMediaType)
Subelement <physicalDescription><form>
Guidelines for use
Characterize the form of the digitized or analog original using terms describing the material, support, or technique. Use authority control AAT, TGM, LCGFT or locally controlled vocabularies. This field/element set is not used to describe the content of a resource. Use the Genre and/or Type of Resource elements to describe the content of the resource. If you do not use a controlled vocabulary, check the Type facet on the Collections portal to avoid spelling variants for uncontrolled terms.
Attributes
Attribute name | Details | XPath syntax examples |
|---|---|---|
authority | values:
| physicalDescription/form[@authority="aat"] |
authorityURI | values:
| physicalDescription/form[@authorityURI="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/genreForms"] |
lang | values:
| physicalDescription/form[@lang="eng"] |