Greetings!

At NMNH, we are converting to a new collections database.
This new database has the capacity to impose vocabulary
control on any field, a functionality previously unavailable
to us. We are now investigating the possibility/desirability
of using vocabulary control in these fields:

*  object name (e.g. "netsuke", "arrow", "quipu"...)
*  materials
*  culture names (ethnonyms)

One of the main hurdles we face in this is finding external
sources of terminology (thesauri, etc.) specifically
developed for a broad-based anthropology collection. If
anyone knows of any group working to develop such resources
please let me know.

I have also created a short, informal survey (below) to
find out how other museums of any size are documenting their
anthropology collections. I would like to hear from anyone
involved in anthropology collections management, database
management, or curation about any published thesauri you
use, as well as any internal procedures you have for
developing or maintaining your own thesauri. Feel free to
forward this to anyone off-list who might have relevant
experience.

Thank you for your help!

Carrie Beauchamp
Information Management Specialist
Department of Anthropology
National Museum of Natural History
[log in to unmask]
(301) 238-6656

________________________________________________________________

Anthropology Vocabulary Control Survey
________________________________________________________________


Name (optional):
Title (optional):
Museum:


1. Do you use (and enforce) vocabulary control in your
database?
    1a. If no, why not?

    1b. If so, which fields are subject to vocabulary
control?


2.  What kinds of vocabulary control do you use (check all
that apply):

__ published, hard copy source (not uploaded into database
software itself, but used as matter of policy)
__ hard copy source developed in-house
__ database source developed externally (i.e. external
sources such as the Getty AAT, but uploaded into your
database)
__ database source developed in-house


3.  If you indicated that you use a published source, which
one(s) do you use?

3a.  Can users modify your copy of this source to add new
terms or update terms? If yes, which users have this
authority?



4.  If you indicated that you use a source developed
in-house, what kind of data (which fields) do you use it
for?

4a.  How was this list initially generated? Who has the
authority to add, edit, or delete terms?

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