The Misssippi Digital Library will participate in national and regional bibliographic and metadata efforts, including OCLC.

Metadata work may be centralized at USM. However, even with centralization of effort, a worksheet will be provided to staff at each institution to aid in gathering information about each item.

The Dublin Core metadata standard is used to create descriptive information about the original item. The metadata describes the various characteristics of each file, including its format, source from which the image was derived, relation to other sources, and rights management information. It also identifies each file's size, type, compression, and resolution. It includes user-searchable characteristics such as creator and subjects covered. Metadata records will be entered into a union database and made accessible to the public.

• For more specific information about workflow and subject heading assignment, see the following article: Graham, Suzanne, and Diane DeCesare Ross. "Metadata and Authority Control in the Civil Rights in Mississippi Digital Archive." The Journal of Internet Cataloging 6 (no. 1, 2003).
  
• Civil Rights in Mississippi Thesaurus: Created to provide a standardized list of names and terms for use in metadata records of items related to the civil rights movement in Mississippi.