People as Subject headings - some guidelines
1. Enter Surname first followed by Given Name(s) eg. Brown, Susan
2. Only use titles such as Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms if given names, including initials are not available eg. Brown, Mr
An exception is when the given name or initial provided for the name of a woman is that of her husband and is not her given name eg. Smith, George (Mrs)
3. Use titles sparingly. Permanent titles such as Dr or Rev are OK eg. Jones, Brian (Dr) but do not use temporary titles such as Cr as part of the Subject term
4. Occupations and / or dates are generally not necessary as part of the Subject term. In some case qualifiers such as dates may be needed to distinguish a number of people with identical names but if this is done be consistent and use the same form of the name for one person every time.
5. When two people from the same family have the same name, identifiers such as (senior) or (junior) after the name may need to be used.
6. Be consistent. Choose one form of a person's name to use in the catalogue.
For example: Smith, Susan
Not Smith, S; Smith, Suzie; Smith, Sue; Smith, Susan Mary; Smith, S M; Smith, Susan, M
7. Use the form of the person's name by which the person is generally known for the Subject term. In the catalogue entry other forms of the name, if necessary, can be referred to in the Brief Description.
8. If a woman is known by both her maiden name and married name, entries for both names can be used. (Do not use eg. Brown, Susan (nee) Smith
Instead use the two names as separate Subject terms:
Smith, Susan
Brown, Susan
9. Create an Authority file for names
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Subjects (2)
Subject Terms - some guidelines
1. Use a thesaurus when choosing indexing terms for Subjects.
2. Keep Subject terms simple and direct.
There is no need in a computer catalogue to include qualifying terms
For example: Hospitals – Sandringham – History
Instead use separate terms for Hospitals and Sandringham.
If the catalogue is primarily on the history of the area the term History can be taken as a given and there would normally be no need to use it.
3. When cataloguing get to know the searching power / capabilities of the database and decide how best to use the features to help the users of the catalogue locate the required items.
4. If the database allows for Boolean searching, select terms that will allow a researcher to use this feature.
For example terms for a photograph of Bayswater West Primary School would include:
Schools
Bayswater
Bayswater West Primary School
Using the above Subject terms a researcher would be able to locate items in the catalogue
(a) Specifically on Bayswater West Primary School
(b) Relating to Schools in general
(c) Relating to Bayswater in general
(d)On Schools in Bayswater by combining the terms Schools and Bayswater in a search
(e)On Schools from different areas excluding Bayswater
5. Know the collection and the terms that will help researchers access the items in the collection.
Determine the main themes and when items catalogued relate to one of those themes ensure that the term for that theme is included in the Subjects field for that item.
For example:
Schools
Churches
Hotels
Hospitals
Bridges
6. When cataloguing always try to think of terms that a researcher may need to find an item. Try and think from the viewpoint of the user.
7. Card catalogues, due to the size of cards, inhibited the number of Subjects used. Computer catalogues allow for more extensive use of Subjects, if required. However keep the Subjects relevant to the item being catalogued and remember that in cataloguing Subject terms are used to help locate an item, not necessarily to index the item.
1. Use a thesaurus when choosing indexing terms for Subjects.
2. Keep Subject terms simple and direct.
There is no need in a computer catalogue to include qualifying terms
For example: Hospitals – Sandringham – History
Instead use separate terms for Hospitals and Sandringham.
If the catalogue is primarily on the history of the area the term History can be taken as a given and there would normally be no need to use it.
3. When cataloguing get to know the searching power / capabilities of the database and decide how best to use the features to help the users of the catalogue locate the required items.
4. If the database allows for Boolean searching, select terms that will allow a researcher to use this feature.
For example terms for a photograph of Bayswater West Primary School would include:
Schools
Bayswater
Bayswater West Primary School
Using the above Subject terms a researcher would be able to locate items in the catalogue
(a) Specifically on Bayswater West Primary School
(b) Relating to Schools in general
(c) Relating to Bayswater in general
(d)On Schools in Bayswater by combining the terms Schools and Bayswater in a search
(e)On Schools from different areas excluding Bayswater
5. Know the collection and the terms that will help researchers access the items in the collection.
Determine the main themes and when items catalogued relate to one of those themes ensure that the term for that theme is included in the Subjects field for that item.
For example:
Schools
Churches
Hotels
Hospitals
Bridges
6. When cataloguing always try to think of terms that a researcher may need to find an item. Try and think from the viewpoint of the user.
7. Card catalogues, due to the size of cards, inhibited the number of Subjects used. Computer catalogues allow for more extensive use of Subjects, if required. However keep the Subjects relevant to the item being catalogued and remember that in cataloguing Subject terms are used to help locate an item, not necessarily to index the item.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Subjects (1)
General guidelines for using Subjects when cataloguing information collections
Subjects are terms used to help researchers locate information in a collection. Some databases call this field Keywords while Key Associations was used in earlier versions of the Museums Data Structure.
Databases can be set up allowing the creation of a field (Broad Search) where multiple fields from the database can be searched at once. This can be a useful way to locate information. However a search in such a field can produce a large number of records which need to be sifted through to locate relevant items. A selection of the items will often be false hits.
Using the Subject field allows researchers to undertake a structured search.
In computer databases terms can often be combined using Boolean search logic providing additional search possibilities. This needs to be kept in mind when selecting subject terms. There is therefore no need to add qualifiers to terms in computer databases - instead use specific terms that can be combined in a search if required.
Subjects can be names of people, places, organisations, buildings, objects and concepts.
A thesaurus should be used to ensure consistency in the use of terms for objects and concepts.
Victorian Local History Thesaurus is available online in the Local History Online section of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria website. Copies on cd-rom are available for purchase from the RHSV for $10.
Another online thesaurus is the Australian Pictorial Thesaurus.
A thesaurus provides a list of preferred terms to be used as subjects. Terms not to be used refer the user to the preferred term. Broader terms, narrower terms and related terms can also be provided.
See Subjects (2) for additional information on using terms for Subjects.
For consistency Authority Files should be used for names of people, organisations and places.
An Authority File for People is an alphabetical list of the form of the person's name to be used in the database.
See Subjects (3) for additional information on using names of people as terms in the Subjects field.
Determine the style to be used for the terms. Do not use block letters. Sentence case should be used unless the term is the name of a person, organisation or place when capital letters are used at the beginning of each word in the term.
For example:
Avenues of honour
Lysterfield Avenue of Honour
Do not use apostrophes in the Subject field. Using apostrophes in other database fields such as Title or Brief Description is fine but using apostrophes in Subject terms can lead to inconsistency.
See Subjects (4) for additional information on using names of organisations and places as terms in the Subjects field.
Subjects are terms used to help researchers locate information in a collection. Some databases call this field Keywords while Key Associations was used in earlier versions of the Museums Data Structure.
Databases can be set up allowing the creation of a field (Broad Search) where multiple fields from the database can be searched at once. This can be a useful way to locate information. However a search in such a field can produce a large number of records which need to be sifted through to locate relevant items. A selection of the items will often be false hits.
Using the Subject field allows researchers to undertake a structured search.
In computer databases terms can often be combined using Boolean search logic providing additional search possibilities. This needs to be kept in mind when selecting subject terms. There is therefore no need to add qualifiers to terms in computer databases - instead use specific terms that can be combined in a search if required.
Subjects can be names of people, places, organisations, buildings, objects and concepts.
A thesaurus should be used to ensure consistency in the use of terms for objects and concepts.
Victorian Local History Thesaurus is available online in the Local History Online section of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria website. Copies on cd-rom are available for purchase from the RHSV for $10.
Another online thesaurus is the Australian Pictorial Thesaurus.
A thesaurus provides a list of preferred terms to be used as subjects. Terms not to be used refer the user to the preferred term. Broader terms, narrower terms and related terms can also be provided.
See Subjects (2) for additional information on using terms for Subjects.
For consistency Authority Files should be used for names of people, organisations and places.
An Authority File for People is an alphabetical list of the form of the person's name to be used in the database.
See Subjects (3) for additional information on using names of people as terms in the Subjects field.
Determine the style to be used for the terms. Do not use block letters. Sentence case should be used unless the term is the name of a person, organisation or place when capital letters are used at the beginning of each word in the term.
For example:
Avenues of honour
Lysterfield Avenue of Honour
Do not use apostrophes in the Subject field. Using apostrophes in other database fields such as Title or Brief Description is fine but using apostrophes in Subject terms can lead to inconsistency.
See Subjects (4) for additional information on using names of organisations and places as terms in the Subjects field.
Author, Photographer, Illustrator
In the data structure for the Victorian Local History Database separate fields are provided for recording the name of the Author, Photographer and / or Illustrator. Some databases have one field - Maker Details - to record this information.
When recording the names of authors, photographers or illustrators follow library practice with Surname followed by Given name(s). - eg Colulson, Helen
If there are a number of items in the collection created by the same person, be consistent and use the same form of the name each time.
When cataloguing books only use the name of the photographer or illustrator if the person has contributed all the photographs or illustrations in the book.
When recording the names of authors, photographers or illustrators follow library practice with Surname followed by Given name(s). - eg Colulson, Helen
If there are a number of items in the collection created by the same person, be consistent and use the same form of the name each time.
When cataloguing books only use the name of the photographer or illustrator if the person has contributed all the photographs or illustrations in the book.
Size
The Size field provides the measurement of the item.
Photograph
Photographs are measured in centimeters. The measurements recorded are Width (W) x Height (H). An example is 12 x 8 cm.
If the photograph is in a frame the measurement would be Width (W) x Height (H) x Depth (D).
Book
The number of pages is used as the measurement for a book used for information rather than as an object. Example could be 210p or 18p. The number of pages indicate not only the size of the book but also helps a researcher determine the amount of information available on the topic.
Map
Maps are measured in centimeters. The measurements recorded are Width (W) x Height (H).
Audio visual items
The size is recorded in minutes when this is known
Photograph
Photographs are measured in centimeters. The measurements recorded are Width (W) x Height (H). An example is 12 x 8 cm.
If the photograph is in a frame the measurement would be Width (W) x Height (H) x Depth (D).
Book
The number of pages is used as the measurement for a book used for information rather than as an object. Example could be 210p or 18p. The number of pages indicate not only the size of the book but also helps a researcher determine the amount of information available on the topic.
Map
Maps are measured in centimeters. The measurements recorded are Width (W) x Height (H).
Audio visual items
The size is recorded in minutes when this is known
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Brief Description
Information in the Brief Description (also called Description) field describes the item or the contents of the item in a short paragraph to accurately describe the item and to provide information enabling a researcher to decide whether or not the item will be useful.
Book
Describe the contents of the book. If it is a general book you may want to include information as to why it is relevant for your collection - chapter 2 includes information about St John's church, for example. Often looking at the contents of a book provides sufficient information for a summary. An example might be - Topics include information about early history of the area, churches, schools, quarries, farming. Also note whether the book is illustrated, has a bibliography, has an index, includes maps. Often books have useful lists that should be noted such as list of mayors, list of head teachers, list of clergy.
The book - Footscray, a pictorial record of the Municipality from 1859 to 1988 - has the following description:
A large pictorial history of Footscray under the headings Town Hall, People places and churches, Parks hotels hospitals, Schools sport bands and processions, Commerce and industry, Street scenes and houses, Transport and trams, River and bridges. A list of subscribers to the book is on page 151.
Photograph
Include type of photograph - eg black and white or coloured
Describe the contents of the photograph so that the researcher can visualise what the photograph is about and also be able to identify the actual photograph from the description.
If the item is framed, describe the frame.
If cataloguing a series of images as one set include information as to the number of images in the set and the subjects of the images in the set.
The image - Tram to Doncaster Tower - has the following description:
Black and white photograph of a poster advertising outings to the Doncaster Tower by means of the train from Princes Bridge Station to Box Hill, and thence by tram to Doncaster. The poster is illustrated by pictures of the tower and the closed box tramcar. The poster was printed for H. J. Hilton, the operator of the tram. (Photograph mounted with caption).
Book
Describe the contents of the book. If it is a general book you may want to include information as to why it is relevant for your collection - chapter 2 includes information about St John's church, for example. Often looking at the contents of a book provides sufficient information for a summary. An example might be - Topics include information about early history of the area, churches, schools, quarries, farming. Also note whether the book is illustrated, has a bibliography, has an index, includes maps. Often books have useful lists that should be noted such as list of mayors, list of head teachers, list of clergy.
The book - Footscray, a pictorial record of the Municipality from 1859 to 1988 - has the following description:
A large pictorial history of Footscray under the headings Town Hall, People places and churches, Parks hotels hospitals, Schools sport bands and processions, Commerce and industry, Street scenes and houses, Transport and trams, River and bridges. A list of subscribers to the book is on page 151.
Photograph
Include type of photograph - eg black and white or coloured
Describe the contents of the photograph so that the researcher can visualise what the photograph is about and also be able to identify the actual photograph from the description.
If the item is framed, describe the frame.
If cataloguing a series of images as one set include information as to the number of images in the set and the subjects of the images in the set.
The image - Tram to Doncaster Tower - has the following description:
Black and white photograph of a poster advertising outings to the Doncaster Tower by means of the train from Princes Bridge Station to Box Hill, and thence by tram to Doncaster. The poster is illustrated by pictures of the tower and the closed box tramcar. The poster was printed for H. J. Hilton, the operator of the tram. (Photograph mounted with caption).
Title
When a search for items is made in the Victorian Local History Database a summary list of items relating to the search is produced - information provided for each item is Title, type of item - book, photograph, map (Object Name) and name of organisation holding the item (Museum Code).
In the Victorian Local History Database title is therefore a compulsory field.
Many items such as books and audio visual material have titles. Other items, especially photographic images, may not. When there is a title use it as it is written. When there is not a title you will need to create one.
Books
Use the title as written on the title page. Subtitles can be included in the title field but if the subtitle is very long, as is the case with some books written in the nineteenth century, subtitles can be included in the Brief Description field.
Photographs
Some photographs have titles written on them but most do not. In this case you will need to create a title for the photographic image. Look at the photograph. What is it about? That is the title. The title for a photograph of St Stephen's Church, Bayswater would be St Stephen's Church, Bayswater. The title of a portrait of Jessie Smith would be Jessie Smith. In most cases the main subject heading would be the title of the image. Having too many images with just a place name may not be helpful. For example hundreds of photographs with the title Melbourne. If the photograph is a view of Collins Street, Melbourne then this should be the title. If the photograph is of a particular building in Collins Street, Melbourne then the name of the building would be the title.
Maps
If a title for the map is not printed on the map then create a title - usually the location as portrayed in map.
In the Victorian Local History Database title is therefore a compulsory field.
Many items such as books and audio visual material have titles. Other items, especially photographic images, may not. When there is a title use it as it is written. When there is not a title you will need to create one.
Books
Use the title as written on the title page. Subtitles can be included in the title field but if the subtitle is very long, as is the case with some books written in the nineteenth century, subtitles can be included in the Brief Description field.
Photographs
Some photographs have titles written on them but most do not. In this case you will need to create a title for the photographic image. Look at the photograph. What is it about? That is the title. The title for a photograph of St Stephen's Church, Bayswater would be St Stephen's Church, Bayswater. The title of a portrait of Jessie Smith would be Jessie Smith. In most cases the main subject heading would be the title of the image. Having too many images with just a place name may not be helpful. For example hundreds of photographs with the title Melbourne. If the photograph is a view of Collins Street, Melbourne then this should be the title. If the photograph is of a particular building in Collins Street, Melbourne then the name of the building would be the title.
Maps
If a title for the map is not printed on the map then create a title - usually the location as portrayed in map.
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