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Required Metadata for PDF Documents

Metadata should provide succinct, descriptive information of an HTML page or PDF document. Having metadata can influence and improve search results, as well as give you greater control over your content. Metadata describes specific content as it currently exists. It does not describe an entire web area, site, or TSSMS account. Read more at Metadata FAQs.

Required:

• Title
• Description (Subject)
• Publisher (Author)
• Keywords

 

 

 

 

Use the Adobe Acrobat Document Properties Window to add or edit metadata:

 

Title

Title is particularly important, since it is used so extensively by search engines, RSS feeds, etc. There is no character limit for this field.

• For complete documents with official titles, the title field should match the given title.
• For segmented documents with official titles, the full document title should be represented, along with information about the segment (e.g. chapter name, section name, etc.).
• For documents without official titles, the title field should include information that will help to differentiate this document from others (e.g. a memo subject line, a description of the content, etc.).
• Must contain two or more space-separated words.
• May not contain a backslash (\) or telltale extensions like .html, .wpd, .doc or .txt.

Examples:

	Title	Why?
Good	Guidelines for Water Reuse: September 2004: Chapter 2: Types of Reuse Applications	Uses official document title and also includes information about this specific segment.
Bad	Ch.2	Does not differentiate this document from any other “chapter two” on EPA.gov.

 

Description (Subject)

A short statement describing the document, highlighting key concepts or critical search terms. In Adobe Acrobat, the description field is labeled “Subject.”

• The description should be succinct, yet add substantive information beyond what is available in the title. Include critical search terms not in the title.
• Must be 190 characters or less.
• Must contain two or more space-separated words.
• May not exactly match the title or the keywords. May not contain a backslash (\) or telltale extensions like .html, .wpd, .doc or .txt.

Examples:

	Description	Why?
Good	Provides explanations of major water reuse application types: urban, industrial, agricultural, environmental, recreational, groundwater recharge, and augmentation of potable supplies.	Short, yet provides context to the document and also incorporates critical search terms.
Bad	Guidelines for Water Reuse.	Copies the title field.

 

Publisher (Author)

This is the web-owner that publishes the document to the web. It is not the original author or document creator. In Adobe Acrobat, the Publisher field is labeled “Author.”

• Must be in the format:
  • US EPA, AA/RA, Real Owner (Lab/Center/Office/Division/Branch)
  • With the last and real owner spelled out.
  • The regional office name should always be spelled out as well.
• May not contain a backslash (\), or telltale extensions like .html, .wpd, .doc or .txt. May not contain the word "keywords".

Formatting Examples:

	Format
Program Office	US EPA, Office of Air and Radiation
Lab	US EPA, ORD, National Exposure Research Laboratory
SubOffice	US EPA, OW, Office of Science and Technology
Division	US EPA, ORD, Ecosystem Research Division
Regional Office with Division	US EPA, Region 1, Superfund Division

 

Keywords:

Keywords are additional terms which your users may employ to search for your content. Note that absolutely crucial terms should be in the title and/or description. Read more about keywords in the Metadata FAQs.

• In most cases, ten or less keywords per document are sufficient. Be selective with keywords. You do not need to create keywords for every possible combination of terms, or for capitalization, plurals, etc.
• Keywords work best when pulled from the actual text of your content.
• Do not exactly repeat terms from the title or description.
• Do not use the same keywords for entire set of documents in a web area or TSSMS.
• Do not use general terms, such as “EPA” and “environment”.
• May not contain a backslash (\), or telltale extensions like .html, .wpd, .doc or .txt. May not contain the word "keywords".

Examples:

	Keywords	Why?
Good	water reclamation, water reuse, reclamation, reclaimed, reuse, EPA-625-R-04-108	Includes important search terms such as the EPA publication number.
Bad	EPA, water, environment	Uses general terms that do not help users searching for this specific content.

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