As you build curriculum and add it to the Digital library, it is important to ensure you and other course authors can find it quickly and easily. One way to do that is to tag content and activities with metadata that can be used when searching the Digital library.
Create searchable metadata fields for Digital library content
First, you need to set up metadata fields for each domain and subdomain. Once created, these fields appear as either text-entry or dropdown search filters in the Digital Library when you select the domain as the desired Collection.
To add metadata fields, you have to create an XML document with the filename _Default.xml. You can model your document after the example below; this list describes the major components:
- Open and close your field list with <itemmetadata> and </itemmetadata> tags.
- Open and close each metadata field that you create with <Value> and </Value> tags.
- Each field requires the following values:
- id: This value is used in the search. It must be alphanumeric, only, and begin with "meta-".
- display: This value acts as the field's title in the Digital Library.
-
inputtype: This value indicates whether this field is a:
- Text-entry box, in which case you don't need to provide any additional information. See the meta-keyword entry in the example below.
-
Dropdown menu, in which case you need to provide the choices that should populate the menu, as in the meta-gradelevel example. For each choice, provide the:
- value: The alphanumeric only value that is used in the search.
- display: The value displayed in the dropdown.
<itemmetadata>
<value id="meta-keyword" display="Keyword" inputtype="Text" />
<value id="meta-gradelevel" display="Grade Level" inputtype="Choice">
<choice value="PreK12" display="Pre-K12" />
<choice value="Kindergarten" display="Kindergarten" />
<choice value="Grade1" display="Grade 1" />
<choice value="Grade2" display="Grade 2" />
<choice value="Grade3" display="Grade 3" />
<choice value="Grade4" display="Grade 4" />
<choice value="Grade5" display="Grade 5" />
<choice value="Grade6" display="Grade 6" />
<choice value="Grade7" display="Grade 7" />
<choice value="Grade8" display="Grade 8" />
<choice value="Grade9" display="Grade 9" />
<choice value="Grade10" display="Grade 10" />
<choice value="Grade11" display="Grade 11" />
<choice value="Grade12" display="Grade 12" />
<choice value="Undergraduate" display="Undergraduate" />
<choice value="Graduate" display="Graduate" />
<choice value="CorporateTraining" display="Corporate Training" />
<choice value="ProfessionalStudies" display="Professional Studies" />
<choice value="Other" display="Other" />
</value>
</itemmetadata>When you're done, upload the XML file to course resources in the following location: Resources/searchForms/ItemMetaData
Tag content and activities
To tag content and activities, you have to create metadata fields that you want attached to items (folders and activities), and content authors can use them to specify tags as they build.
Create metadata fields
To create metadata fields:
- Open the vertical menu in the toolbar of Domain Details.
- Select Domain Settings.
- Click Add in the Metadata for activities card.
- Provide:
- A Name, which is not visible to the users and cannot include spaces or special characters. You can use underscores or hyphens if you don't want the field to be searchable.
- A Title, which is visible to students.
- Choose Input Type from the options listed here. The content entered in these fields is used to create searchable metadata tags, so it's important to be deliberate about your choice.
- Use the Default field to define the default state or content that you want present in the field (this is not available for the Rich Text input type).
- Indicate the Levels within the course folder structure at which you want this metadata displayed. Level one is the first level of folders under the course folder, level two impacts any folders or activities you add to those folders, and so forth. If you don't specify here, the field is shown at all levels.
- Choose the Item Type for which the section should appear (folders, activities, or all).
- Indicate whether you want to Allow setting per group.
- Indicate whether you want to make the item Visible to student when they select the item in the Activities tool (only applicable to folders).
- Indicate whether you want to make the item Editable in clipboard.
- Save.
Add searchable tags to items
To add searchable tags to items:
- Open the course with the Teacher app
- Create a new folder or activity, or click the pencil (edit) icon to add tags to existing items.
- Select the Data tab in the activity editor.
- Find the metadata field you created, and enter or select the searchable tag.
- Save.
