Using categories and keywords

Functionally, categories and keywords work the same way: they both relate and connect digital heritage items that have something in common. When viewing a digital heritage item, the categories and keywords will appear on the right side of the page, along with other digital heritage metadata. Clicking on a category or keyword will redirect a user to a page that shows a list of all digital heritage items with that same category or keyword.

While categories and keywords function very similarly to each other, they are also intended to serve different purposes. Categories are applied site wide, across all communities, and help with high-level navigation and browsing. They are generally broad concepts, rather than specific identifiers (eg: Architecture, as opposed to Seattle Public Library). It is best to select a relatively small number of categories. The number of suggested categories varies, but it is typically recommended to include between 10 and 15. Only Mukurtu Administrators can create new categories.

Keywords, unlike categories, are meant to be more open and flexible. Keywords are also applied site-wide.They can be used more like tags, and a digital heritage item can include as many keywords as are useful (typically 3-5). New keywords can be added much more freely than with categories. Since any contributor creating or editing a digital heritage item can add a new keyword, site administrators may want to provide or maintain a list of recommended or approved keywords as part of an internal workflow.

For more information about categories, see What are communities, cultural protocols, and categories?