Jhu Week 7

JHU Museum Studies Spring 2010

Cataloguing Museum Collections

History, Trends, and Issues

Susan Chun

Week 7: Vocabularies

• Why vocabularies?

• Some definitions

• Key vocabularies in the discipline

• Locally-created resources

Definitions

• Data values or data content

• Controlled vocabulary

• Thesaurus• Hierarchy - narrower/broader terms

How does it work?

• Content providers

• Content distributors

Vocabularies to review

1. Getty Vocabularies (TGN, ULAN, AAT): http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/

2. VIAF: http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/viaf/default.htm

3. ICONCLASS: http://www.iconclass.nl/about-iconclass/what-is-iconclass

4. Library of Congress Authorities (Subject Headings, Name Authorities, Keyword Authorities): http://authorities.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

(or any of the resources listed in the “Introduction to Art Image Access” Annotated List of Tools)

Locally-created resources

Standards everywhere

Readings READ:

1. Meltzer, E. and Meltzer, J. (2004). Data and Metadata: An Interview with Murtha Baca and Erin Coburn. Cabinet, Issue 18, 37-40. [eReserves]

2. Cameron, F. (2009). Museum Collections, Documentation, and Shifting Knowledge Paradigms. In Parry, R., ed., Museums in a Digital Age (pp. 80-95). London: Routledge. [eReserves]

RE-READ:

1. Baca, M., ed. (2002). Introduction to Art Image Access. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Research Institute, http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/standards/intro_aia/intro.html. Re-read Patricia Harpring's chapter on "The Language of Images," as well as the Glossary and the Annotated List of Tools.

Discussions

Which vocabulary tool(s) would you apply to the collection you chose last week for cataloguing, and why? What benefit comes from the selection of a particular tool? Does it support better searching? Better indexing? More consistent clustering of results for browsing or display?

What other considerations come into play when considering a vocabulary in your cataloguing strategy?

Quiz