MODS Element	Attributes	Subelements
<mods:subject>	@authority @authorityURI @valueURI @usage	<mods:topic> <mods:geographic> <mods:geographicCode> <mods:temporal> <mods:genre> <mods:titleInfo> <mods:name>

Usage Guidelines

1. Use Library of Congress Subject Headings, which should be indicated by @authority=lcsh in <mods:subject>. Other controlled vocabularies, including local vocabularies, may be used at the discretion of the project manager and defined in the project’s data dictionary.
2. Authority is specified at the <mods:subject> level, except in the case of <mods:geographic>, <mods:temporal>, <mods:titleInfo>, or <mods:name>.
3. Always parse subject values into subelements. DO NOT place precoordinated subject headings into a single <mods:subject><mods:topic>string.
4. If end users are more likely to be interested in the form or genre of the item, use <mods:genre>. If the object is about a particular form or genre, or if the form/genre is part of a precoordinated subject heading, use <mods:subject><mods:genre>.
5. If specifying subjects from different authorities, use separate <mods:subject> elements for each.
6. Dates in <mods:temporal> should be formatted according to W3CDTF, which should, in turn, be indicated in the encoding attribute. For more details about how to input dates, see the Date section above.
7. If a geographic name is part of a corporate body (e.g. United States, Senate), it is coded as <mods:name>, not <mods:geographic>.
8. All subelements of <mods:titleInfo>, <mods:name>, and <mods:genre> may be used.
9. <mods:hierarchicalGeographic> and <mods:cartographics> are not in use at this time.

Elements

<mods:subject>

Required: Y

Repeatable: Y

Definition: A term or phrase representing the primary topic(s) on which a work is focused.

Attributes:

authority (required): this attributes accepts only two values, unless otherwise specified in the project’s data dictionary:

lcsh

local

<mods:topic>

Required: N

Repeatable: Y

MARC: 650, 653, 6XX $x and $v

Definition: Include here all terms that would not be more appropriate in <mods:geographic>, <mods:temporal>, <mods:titleInfo>, <mods:name>, or <mods:genre>.

<mods:geographic>

Required: N

Repeatable: Y

MARC: 651, 6XX $z

<mods:​geographicCode>

Required: N

Repeatable: Y

MARC: 043

Definition: A geographic area code associated with a resource.

Attributes:

authority (required): takes the following values:

marcgac

marccountry

iso3166

<mods:temporal>

Required: N

Repeatable: Y

MARC: 045, 6XX $y

Definition: Used for chronological subject terms or temporal coverage.

Attributes:

encoding (required): takes only “w3cdtf”

point (required if applicable): takes only “start” or “end”

<mods:titleInfo> Refer to the Title section of these guidelines

<mods:name> Refer to the Name section of these guidelines.

<mods:genre> Refer to the Genre section of these guidelines.

Examples

<!-- With parsed and repeated <mods:subject> values, with LCSH specified as the authority at the <mod:subject> level -->

<mod:subject authority="lcsh"> 
  <mod:topic>Railroads</mod:topic> 
  <mod:geographic>West (U.S.)</mod:geographic> 
  <mod:genre>Maps</mod:genre> 
</mod:subject>

<!-- Topical: With <topic> grouped with other <subject> subelements that use same authority, with LCSH and local specified separately as authority at the <subject> level -->

<mod:subject authority="lcsh"> 
  <mod:topic>Funeral rites and ceremonies</mod:topic> 
  <mod:geographic>Louisiana</mod:geographic> 
  <mod:geographic>New Orleans</mod:geographic>
</mod:subject> 

<mod:subject authority="local"> 
  <mod:topic>Jazz funerals</mod:topic>
</mod:subject> 

<!-- Temporal: With the encoding attribute used to indicate a single date in time -->

<mod:subject>
  <mod:temporal encoding="w3cdtf">1975-05-15</mod:temporal>
</mod:subject>

<!-- Temporal: With the encoding and point attributes used to indicate a date range -->

<mod:subject>
  <mod:temporal encoding="w3cdtf" point="start">2001-09-11</mod:temporal> 
  <mod:temporal encoding="w3cdtf" point="end">2003-03-19</mod:temporal>
</mod:subject>

<!-- Title: With name and topical subelement -->

<mod:subject authority="lcsh">
  <mod:name type="personal" authority="naf">
    <mod:namePart>Woolf, Virginia</mod:namePart>
    <mod:namePart type=”date”>1882-1941</mod:namePart> 
  </mod:name> 
  <mod:titleInfo> 
    <mod:title>Three Guineas</mod:title> 
  </mod:titleInfo>
  <mod:topic>Criticism and interpretation</mod:topic>
</mod:subject>

<!-- Genre --> 

<mod:subject authority=”lcsh”>
  <mod:name type=”personal” authority=”naf”>
    <mod:namePart>Edmondston, Catherine Devereux</mod:namePart>
    <mod:namePart type=”date”>1823-1875</mod:namePart> 
  </mod:name> 
  <mod:genre>Diaries</mod:genre>
</mod:subject>