The Dublin Core metadata is a set of 15 elements which can be used to describe resources for the purposes of discovery. The terms can be used to describe a full range of web resources (video, images, web pages, etc.), physical resources such as books and objects like artworks.

Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES):


1. TITLE 
The name given to the resource by the CREATOR or PUBLISHER. 
2. CREATOR
The person(s) or organization(s) primarily responsible for the intellectual content of the resource; the author. 
3. SUBJECT
The topic of the resource; also keywords, phrases or classification descriptors that describe the subject or content of the resource. 
4. DESCRIPTION
A textual description of the content of the resource, including abstracts in the case of document-like objects; also may be a content description in the case of visual resources. 
5. PUBLISHER
The entity responsible for making the resource available in its present form, such as a publisher, university department or corporate entity. 
6. CONTRIBUTORS
Person(s) or organization(s) in addition to those specified in the CREATOR element, who have made significant intellectual contributions to the resource but on a secondary basis. 
7. DATE
The date the resource was made available in its present form. 
8. TYPE
The resource type, such as home page, novel, poem, working paper, technical report, essay or dictionary. It is expected that TYPE will be chosen from an enumerated list of types. 
9. FORMAT
The data representation of the resource, such as text/html, ASCII, Postscript file, executable application or JPG image. FORMAT will be assigned from enumerated lists such as registered Internet Media Types (MIME types). MIME types are defined according to the RFC2046 standard.
10. IDENTIFIER
A string or number used to uniquely identify the resource. Examples from networked resources include URLs and URNs (when implemented). 
11. SOURCE
The work, either print or electronic, from which the resource is delivered (if applicable). 
12. LANGUAGE
The language(s) of the intellectual content of the resource. 
13. RELATION
The relationship to other resources. Formal specification of RELATION is currently under development. 
14. COVERAGE
The spatial locations and temporal duration characteristics of the resource. Formal specification of COVERAGE is also now being developed. 
15. RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
A link (URL or other suitable URI as appropriate) to a copyright notice, a rights-management statement or perhaps a server that would provide such information in a dynamic way.