Managing Metadata in Bulk

Overview of Managing Metadata 

Vault supports adding and editing metadata in bulk to your collections, folders, and individual files. This article provides an overview of adding and managing bulk metadata in Vault. 

In this article 

• About Bulk Metadata in Vault
• How to Download the Metadata Template CSV File
• How to Add and Edit Metadata in Bulk
• How to Upload the Metadata Template CSV File
• Related Content

About Bulk Metadata in Vault

Vault makes adding and editing metadata in bulk to your collections and folders easy. Users can download a template CSV file to modify and then upload it to make bulk changes to metadata. By default, Dublin Core metadata elements are available with the option to add custom metadata fields as needed. To learn how to add and edit metadata individually to your collections, folders, and files, you can see Managing Metadata.

How to Download the Metadata Template CSV File

From the Collection page, you can navigate to your desired collection or folder and:

1. Select the desired collection/folder.
   
   
2. Click Metadata from the action button menu.
   
   
3. Click Download Template CSV. The file will download to your device using the following naming convention: Collection Name or Folder Name_Metdata_Date and the Timestamp of the download time — for example, Images_Metadata_2024-11-20T22_30_09.159Z.
   • The CSV file will display any existing metadata and custom fields that were previously added. 
   • If no metadata has been added to the collection/folder, the CSV file will display the following fields by default: 
     
     • Object Type
     • Object ID
     • Object Path
     • Title
     • Creator 
     • Subject
     • Description
     • Publisher 
     • Contributor 
     • Date
     • Type
     • Format
     • Identifier
     • Source 
     • Language 
     • Relation
     • Coverage
     • Rights

How to Add and Edit Metadata 

Once you have downloaded the Metadata Template CSV file for your desired collection or folder, you can add and edit metadata directly in that CSV file.

Important information about the file: 

1. The first row in the file contains column headers, which are labels for each of your standard and custom metadata fields. All the provided Dublin Core fields are optional, and you can add new custom fields as a new column header to the CSV file after the ‘Rights’ column.  
2. The first three fields in the CSV file (Object Type, Object ID, Object Path) cannot be edited. The object's type, ID number, and path within Vault inform these fields.
3. All metadata fields in Vault are repeatable. For fields that have more than one value, add a new column for each value (for example, two Subject columns). Only add values in the additional columns for Objects where multiple values are desired.    
   • Important: If you want to add repeated fields that map to the standard Dublin Core metadata elements, you must capitalize the first letter of the field name (for example, Subject, not subject). If the field name is not capitalized, it will be added as a new custom metadata element field.   

CSV fields:	Notes
Object Type	Required field. It cannot be edited.
Object ID	Required field. It cannot be edited.
Object Path	Required field. It cannot be edited.
Title	Optional field.
Creator	Optional field.
Subject	Optional field.
Description	Optional field.
Publisher	Optional field.
Contributor	Optional field.
Date	Optional field.
Type	Optional field.
Format	Optional field.
Identifier	Optional field.
Source	Optional field.
Language	Optional field.
Relation	Optional field.
Coverage	Optional field.
Rights	Optional field.
Custom field	Optional field. It can be any required metadata type; you can add as many as needed.

How to Upload the Metadata Template CSV File

Important Note: Uploading a new CSV file will overwrite any existing metadata you have added to your collection or folder. 

Once satisfied with your changes, save the file as a CSV with the same file name. To validate and import your updated CSV file, navigate to the Collection page and:

1. Select the desired collection/folder.
   
   
2. Click Metadata from the action button menu.
   
   
3. Drag and drop your CSV file, or upload it from your device and click Validate CSV.  
   • If there are no issues with the file, you will see the following message informing you that: 
     • Your file is ready to be uploaded 
   • If there are issues with your file, you will see the following message informing you that: 
     • The following errors exist in your file: a list of which line items have errors and how to fix them
     • You must address these errors, select the corrected CSV file, and try to Validate CSV again. 
       
       
4. Click Complete your Upload. 

Related Content:

• Managing Metadata
• Managing Collections

Last updated on March 28, 2025.