In a message dated 2/9/2004 8:28:40 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
<< I’m conducting a research project on how museums, websites, science
organizations, libraries, and any other organizations with image
collections indicate subjects for the images – and my specific interest is
in systems (subject headings, classification, searchable captions, etc.)
which were designed in-house; that is, not the standards like Library of
Congress, Chenhall’s Nomenclature, MeSH, Dewey, the Art & Architecture
Thesaurus, etc. >>
As someone who relies heavily on Library of Congress subject headings for
subject access to images, I'm a little puzzled by the restrictions of this
survey. I have to ask myself why anyone would WANT to exclude LC subject headings
from their subject indexing repertoire, since using such a standard authority
list promotes communication and access among different repositories. I also
think it's a user-friendly concept, enabling researchers from a wide variety of
disciplines and backgrounds to know what to expect, rather than having to
learn some unique, home-grown system of terminology.
Having said that, I have to admit that my own "system" is pretty eclectic and
free-form. Our rule is that every catalog record must contain at least one
LC subject heading, but beyond that almost anything goes. If a picture
contains identifiable objects or actions which seem useful as subject access points
and the names of the objects, activities, or events cannot be found in LCSH, so
be it. But our methods are informed by the kinds of visual research which
I've learned our patrons are likely to conduct, so a catalog record for a
photograph might typically contain an LC term (usually more than one), AAT terms for
process, style, etc., plus common terms for objects and events depicted, plus
specialized terms within a particular discipline. The latter area is not
well developed, as it often requires consultation with experts in various
disciplines, and I've never established a workable schedule to accomplish such a goal
with much uniformity. If I had a group of pictures involving agricultural
machinery, for example, I might enlist the aid of an agricultural historian to
identify and name the machinery, techniques, and activities depicted. Pictures
of people wearing exotic, regional, or simply non-contemporary clothing might
require a costume expert to provide useful nomenclature. When possible, in
something of an infrequent catch-as-catch can fashion, I ask specialists to
identify and name, for indexing purposes, details in photographs which make them
useful as historical evidence. I've had a transportation curator identify
vehicle types and maker and model names for early automobiles, for example.
Thus the cataloging may be cumulative and progressively more detailed and complex
as time and energy permit. Much of our preliminary cataloging is therefore
not very thorough, and many records are always awaiting further input from
specialists. We strive for consistency, however, and I often find that LC subject
headings help to standardize variant terms which have cropped up, even in
specialized areas.
So we haven't developed an internal authority list, so to speak, and
presumably wouldn't qualify for your survey. I'm inclined to think that cataloguers
are increasingly relying upon the most popular standardized lists, and I'll be
very curious to see what kind of response you get.
David Haberstich
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