Organisations as Subject headings - some guidelines
1. Be consistent when using the names of organisations as terms in the Subject field.
2. It is best to use only one form of the Company name as a Subject.
3. Use an Authority File for names of organisations / or companies to be used as a term in the Subject field.
4. Names of organisations change - generally use the latest names
For example:
Bayswater Primary School
Rather than
Bayswater State School
5. As churches often have common names, the place name is usually included when used as a term in the Subject field.
For example:
St Stephens Anglican Church, Bayswater
St Stephens Anglican Church, Richmond
6. Do not use apostrophes in names of organisations when used as terms in the Subject field.
Place names as Subject headings - some guidelines
1. Be consistent when using the names of places as terms in the Subject field.
2. Use only one form of the place name.
3.Use an Authority File for names of places when used as terms in the Subject field.
4. Do not use apostrophes in names of places when used as terms in the Subject field.
Showing posts with label Subjects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Subjects. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Subjects (3)
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
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
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.
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