Questions about the metadata of the material

  1. How can I edit the metadata of my material?
  2. Which metadata is necessary?
  3. What do I have to consider when specifying a license?
  4. How do I give credit (authorship) for OER?
  5. What is a good title?
  6. What is the best way to set keywords?
  7. My (link) object only shows a generic icon in the preview. Can I display a thumbnail of the landing page?
  8. How do I select the entry in the metadata field "Origin"? Should I also set it for link objects?
  9. I have several quite similar OERs. Can I simplify entering the metadata?


  1. How can I edit the metadata of my material?
  2. To change your material's metadata, go to your material's metadata dialog. Go to your workspace and open the menu options (⋮) of the material you would like to customize. Select "Edit info" here.

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    Alternatively, you can access the metadata dialog by opening your material and accessing the top right menu (⋮). Here, too, you will find the "Edit info" item, which takes you to the metadata dialog.
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  3. Which metadata is necessary?
  4. Title, author/originator and license are the mandatory information in ZOERR. They must be provided in order to publish a material. These indications are minimum information for the quality assurance of the materials and ensure that the materials can be found.
    In addition, it is advisable to write a brief description of the material, supplementing its origin, type and language. It is helpful for the search if keywords and a preview image are assigned.
    Optionally, you can add further contributers and technical information for subsequent use to your educational material in ZOERR.

  5. What do I have to consider when specifying a license?
  6. In the metadata dialog (see question 1) you have the option of granting a license for the material you have provided. To do this, select "Manage License" in the License area. You can also access the same license dialog via the menu (⋮) and the "Assign a license" option.
    In the following window you can choose between the licenses CC 0/Public Domain, CC-BY and CC-BY-SA.

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    If the desired license is not included, you can deactivate the option "OER licenses only" using the switch at the top right. Please use the OER licenses preferably and only use a different license under special circumstances.
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    If you select "Creative Commons" from the drop-down menu in the following window, you will be guided through the further process of selecting a license with the help of two questions.
    The current version of the Creative Commons license is automatically preset. If you want to change the license version, you can do so using the drop-down menu at the bottom of the window.
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    If you have decided on a license that contains the BY module, it is mandatory to state the author. Version 3.0 CC licenses also require a title to be specified.
    After you save your license information, it will appear in the description of your materials. Further information on the Creative Commons licenses can be found in ZOERR in the License FAQ.

  7. How do I give credit (authorship) for OER?
  8. In the "About the author" section, you have two options for specifying authors: Via the "General author information" or "Authors & Contributors" buttons. If possible, please select the option "Authors & Contributors" and name the specific person. If this is yourself, you can have the field filled out automatically by ticking "I am author of the material".
    In this window you also have the option of making visible several authors and other people involved in the development of the material, e.g. editors, graphic designers. To do this, select "Additional Contributers" below the input field.

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    Click on the "Add" input field under "Additional Contributers".
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    In the following window you have the option of naming all authors, people and/or organisations involved and their role. Enter a name in the input mask and then select the appropriate function, e.g. graphic designer, in the role field. You have the choice between 14 different roles. Save your entry with the "apply" button. To add more participants, repeat the previous steps.
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    Please only choose the "General author information" if no persons can be named as the author. Here you can, for example, name institutions or companies as authors. You can change the author information at any time: To do this, open the desired educational material in your authoring environment and select the "Contributors" option in the menu  (⋮).

  9. What is a good title?
  10. A meaningful title is an important descriptive category of educational material. It facilitates the technical discoverability of the material and supports users in their search.

    • Choose the title as precisely as possible and name the content as specifically as possible.
    • Include technical terms in the title.
    • If possible, avoid creative titles that do not specifically name the content. While they arouse interest, they may lure users down the wrong path.
    • Avoid abstract terms such as Introduction, Lesson 1, Exercise Part 3.
    Try to put yourself in the seeker's perspective and ask yourself how you would search for the material yourself. In general, the more precise the title, the easier it is to find and assess your material.

  11. What is the best way to set keywords?
  12. Anything that cannot be included in the title can be used as a keyword. Because this can also increase the discoverability of the materials. Here are a few tips for assigning keywords:

    • Assign three to seven meaningful terms/keywords.
    • Use the keywords in the singular.
    • Use verbs in the indicative and with a capital letter.
    • Don't use word groups and phrases.
    It is best to use predefined keywords, as these offer the following advantages over (open) keywords:
    • Maintained and regularly updated vocabulary
    • Avoid spelling mistakes / different spellings
    • Coverage of synonyms (in parantheses)
    • The same is found with the same terms
    When you assign predefined keywords, a suggested list of existing terms from the entire catalogue appears while you are typing! Searchers also receive a suggested list of keywords that have actually been assigned when typing in the keyword search field!

    If you cannot assign your material to a subject, it is possible to tag it so that it can be found as general material. To do this, enter a corresponding note in the input mask for the key words, e.g. Interdisciplinary, Core Competence, University Didactics or other suitable information. You can then leave the metadata field "Subject" blank.
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  13. My (link) object only shows a generic icon in the preview. Can I display a thumbnail of the landing page?
  14. It may happen that you do not like the image generated by the system, or it could not generate one at all, such as with links. In these cases you can deposit a preview image. To do this, after selecting the "edit info" menu option in the editing dialog, click on the round button with the up arrow next to the image. Then you can select an image file that will be used as a preview image in the future.

  15. How do I select the entry in the metadata field "Origin"? Should I also set it for link objects?
  16. For the "Origin" field, please always select the organisation to which you belong or through which the material was posted. In the search environment, this makes it possible to see all the materials posted by a university immediately. The portal view of the repository adapted to a university also shows all materials originating from this university on the start page.
    However, for link objects that point to external sites, the question arises as to whether this is appropriate. Here it is important to weigh up whether it is appropriate to omit the origin in the metadata with the correct content or whether it is preferable to specify the college that entered the link so that these link objects can also be displayed in the hit list when searching for the college's materials. We can't give a definitive guide on this and are giving this information to the authors for their discretion to make.

  17. I have several quite similar OERs. Can I simplify entering the metadata?
  18. When right-clicking on a folder on the left in the workspace, you can select "Metadata Template" from the menu. In the following dialog you can preset values for various metadata. In the case of materials that are newly imported into this folder, these values are already entered, changes are of course always possible. This functionality is intentionally not available for licenses and author names. Also note that the metadata template is not inherited by subfolders.