Dublin Core Elements

 Title | Creator | Date | Subject | Publisher
Type | Description | Contributor | Format | Source
Rights | Identifier | Language | Relation | Coverage

4.4. Description

Label: Description
Element Description: A textual description of the content of the resource, including abstracts in the case of document-like objects or content descriptions in the case of visual resources.
Guidelines for creation of content:
Since the description field is a potentially rich source of indexable vocabulary, care should be taken to provide this element when possible. Some metadata collections could include content description (spectral analysis of a visual resource, for example) that may not be embeddable in current network systems. In such a case this field might contain a link to such a description rather than the description itself.

Descriptive information can be taken from the item itself, if there is no abstract or other structured description available.
Normally, if a Description cannot be found either in the introductory or front matter, or the first few paragraphs, it should be set up "on the fly" by the metadata provider. Normally, Description should be limited to a few brief sentences.

Example
<META NAME="DC.Description" CONTENT="Illustrated guide to airport markings and lighting signals, with particular reference to SMGCS (Surface Movement Guidance and Control System) for airports with low visibility conditions">

Qualifiers for DC.Description

    From LC
      Scheme:
        (Abstract is default)
        URL
      TYPE: not necessary
    From UK
      Scheme
        Internal
          The information provided is not part of an external coding system and the coding should be qualified by an accompanying TYPE from the list below. This is the default scheme value if the scheme is not explicitly stated.
        URL
          The value of this element is a Uniform Resource Locator pointing at an external representation of the description of the resource.
        URN
          The value of this element is a Uniform Resource Name identifying an external representation of the description of the resource.
      Type
        Freetext
          A brief, freetext description of the resource provided by a third party (such as a cataloguer). This is a the default if a TYPE is not specified.
        Abstract
          The abstract as provided by the creator/publisher of the resource.