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Bilingual (English/Spanish) Metadata for Digital Collections: Multilingual Metadata

Updated October 2025 by Rose Echeguren

Multilingual Metadata for UF Digital Collections

When creating multilingual records (2 or more languages) for UFDC (and dLOC), additional languages must be entered in the appropriate fields. Each language should have its own dedicated field, rather than combining multiple languages into a single entry.

 

UFDC/dLOC Fields Affected

  • Title

    • Enter the title in the original language.

    • Non-repeatable field.

  • Title Language

    • This optional field does not display in UFDC/dLOC, but it’s helpful to include for multilingual metadata submissions.

  • Series Title

    • If the item is part of a series you’d like grouped with related items in UFDC/dLOC under a single title, please use this field. It will link the records together under one shared title set, as shown in this example.

  • Alternate Title 01 / Alternate Title 02

    • Use for translated titles or titles in additional languages.

  • Alternate Title (Language) 01 / Alternate Title (Language) 02

    • This optional field does not display in UFDC/dLOC but is helpful to include when submitting multilingual metadata batches. 

  • Language 01 / Language 02 / Language 03

    • Record all languages represented in the metadata.

    • Enter the language name in English.

  • Format

    • Non-repeatable field that requires metadata in different languages to be put together into a single entry with ";" as a separator.

  • Subject Keyword + Subject Authority Code

    • Choose subject headings using authoritative source of your choosing.

    • For Spanish keywords, please use UF Libraries’ homegrown vocabulary for Spanish subject and genre headings when possible: Pan-American Authorities (authority code: pana).

  • Genre + Genre Authority Code

    • Choose genre/form keywords using authoritative source of your choosing.

  • Note 01 / Note 02 / Note 03

    • Enter notes in multiple languages, one per field.

Tips & Guidelines

 

  • Be consistent: Follow the same order across all fields (e.g., Original language → English → Additional languages). Always list the original language first in the metadata ingestion sheet.

  • Preserve accuracy: Maintain diacritics and special characters (e.g., José Martí, not Jose Marti).

  • Use authoritative sources: Choose subject headings from authoritative sources. For help finding foreign language controlled vocabularies, a good starting point is the Library of Congress’s Subject Heading and Term Source Codes.

Examples

 

 

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