Tagging in iTunes U

Before you upload a file to iTunes U, you must use the iTunes application to add information about that file. This information, called "metadata" or "tags," will ensure your content is searchable. If you use another application to add information about your files, this information may not load onto iTunes U with your file.

1. Open the iTunes Application.
   
   
   
2. If your file is not already in iTunes, drag and drop it into the appropriate area of your Library (Music or Movies).
   
   
   
3. Control-click (Mac) or Right-Click (Windows) on the file in iTunes and choose Get Info. You will see several tabs: choose Info.
   
   
   
   
4. Enter full descriptive information in the following fields. Metadata is weighted in order by Name, Artist, Album, Comments. For example(a track containing the search term in the Name of your track will be returned as much more "Relevant" and higher ranked, than one with the search term in Comments alone.
   
   
   

   Name: A descriptive topical name, part # if multiple parts, date
   Example: Sonia Sanchez Poetry Reading, 2007-10-16, Part 1 of 2
   Example: Lecture on Foucault and Nietzsche, 2008-04-23
   Name is displayed in the iTunes U interface and is searchable.

   Artist: Speaker, performer or other originator of file's content
   Example: Sonia Sanchez of Temple University
   Example: Dr. Adrian Switzer
   Artist is displayed in the iTunes U interface and is searchable.

   Year: Year in which content was recorded

   Track Number: Part number and total number of parts, if applicable
   Example: Part 2 of 4

   Album: Course, conference, series, sponsor, etc.Example: Robert W. Woodruff Library Poetry Events
   Example: PHIL 301-001: Philosophy of the 20th Century
   Album is displayed in the iTunes U interface and is searchable.

   Comments: Short description of content with crucial keywords, such as location, names, titles and topics. (255 character limit)

   Date: ex. 2007-03-06
   Keywords: ex. poetry reading, Sonia Sanchez, authors

   Short Description: ex. Sonia Sanchez reads poems from her books Ash and Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam in the Jones Room of Woodruff Library at Emory University. She is introduced by Kevin Young, curator of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library and Professor of English and Creative Writing. .

   Genre: Server is set to default to: Emory University

   Lyrics: This field is available only for audio files of type MPEG-3 (.mp3) and AAC (.m4a) and video files of type MPEG-4 (.m4v). It may be used for a written transcript of the audio or video file.

   Track Artwork: Artwork in iTunes can correspond to the "track" or the "album." If a file does not have its own associated artwork, iTunes will display the "album" art. For track artwork, we recommend a photo of the speaker. Images must be 300 x 300 pixels.

5. When you are finished tagging, click back to the Summary pane and take note of where the file you have been tagging lives on your computer (bottom left corner). You'll navigate to this same location when uploading the file to iTunes U.
   
   
   

   Where on Windows:
   
   
   Where on Mac:
   

6. Click OK when you are finished tagging your file.
   
   
   
7. Once you upload your file to iTunes U, you can edit two fields under "Upload and Manage Files": Track Name and Artist. Should you need to make changes to other tagging areas, you must re-upload the file with your new information.
   
   Regardless of where you publish digital media, you should retain your own archive copies in formats that have minimal loss of quality and can be edited and re-encoded later. This future-proofs your content to some extent if media standards change or you'd like to distribute your content through a new technology.

iTunes U Home | User Guides | Contribute | Feedback