Deborah, I think alot of the issue is we are at the beginning of public use of collections in the same way we search for books.
Here at the IMA we are currently working on a project with our Education Resources departmet to include subject heading in our cataloguing of our objects. Being a VRA member and accredited librarian she is the best person suited to establish the criteria for subject cataloguing of our collection. Since her departments responsibiltiy is to the public she will keep a perspective of user need in mind when creating this resource. Being aware of subject cataloging developments for museums (which, from what I have seen, is still reletively new when compared to libraries), such as the effort by the Visual Resources Association (http://www.vraweb.org) and the Getty (http://www.getty.edu) called Cataloguing Cultural Objects, CCO (http://www.vraweb.org/ccoweb/index.html) will begin to get museum subject cataloguing at the level of libraries. In the CCO they establish guidelines using established thesauri such as AAT and TGN. Using these thesauri as a base we plan to expand using some local terms but without harming the AAT or TGN structure within our system. Ive also heard of other museums in your area beginnig to bring their patrons input straight into their system establishing a kind of subject heading or more appropriately "keywording" for each object. If your really looking for some structure and guidance, I would contact someone at the Visual Resources Association. Our Education Resource Coordinator (I hope that is the right title), is an active member of VRA so we get our guidance from her. Maybe get someone on staff signed up as a member? Mike. Michael Rippy Assistant Photographer Indianapolis Museum of Art 4000 Michigan Road Indianapolis, IN, USA 46208-3326 (317)920-2662 ext.191 www.ima-art.org mri...@ima-art.org >>> deborahwy...@hotmail.com 11/17/05 9:31 AM >>> This doesn't make a lot of sense to me--why would museums >not< publish subject terms in their web/public versions of the catalog? Isn't the purpose of creating subjects/keywords to make the collections more accessible --to everyone, not just inhouse users? Museum staff are likely to be looking for a specific object and have key data--title or accession numbers--but members of the public (including picture researchers who might buy our images!) may want to ask a system: "show me all the cats." Deborah ----Original Message Follows---- From: "JanaH" <jana.h...@cartermuseum.org> Reply-To: mcn-l@mcn.edu To: mcn-l@mcn.edu Subject: RE: subject & keyword searching in CMS and DAMS Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 16:04:12 -0600 Deborah, Museums don't always publish their subject cataloging to their websites. Usually only select fields are exported from the collection management system, and for several reasons, the subject fields don't make the cut. I think you'll find that the depth of information stored in collection management systems isn't really reflected in museum websites. So I guess what I'm saying is that just because you don't see it on the Web doesn't mean someone isn't recording that information. That said, I think most of us probably use a vocabulary based on the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), with local terms added where necessary. We don't use LCSH because they are usually too conceptual/vague for our needs, but maybe someone else will weigh in on that? Jana Hill Collection Database Coordinator Amon Carter Museum 3501 Camp Bowie Blvd. Fort Worth, Texas 76107 817-989-5173 817-989-5179 fax All opinions are my own and not those of my employer. -----Original Message----- From: Deborah Wythe [mailto:deborahwy...@hotmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2005 2:12 PM To: mcn-l@mcn.edu Subject: subject & keyword searching in CMS and DAMS I'm curious to know if your museum assigns formal subject headings and/or keywords to works of art in their collections management or digital asset management systems. A little poking around on the Web seems to indicate it's not too common -- artist name, title, medium, collection, maybe a general category, yes, but something approaching the depth of the subject headings used in library catalogs--maybe no? If you do assign subject headings, which authorities are used -- LCSH? AAT? Thanks, Deborah Deborah Wythe Brooklyn Museum Head, Digital Collections and Services 200 Eastern Parkway Brooklyn, NY 11238 tel: 718 501 6311 fax: 718 501 6125 email: deborahwy...@hotmail.com --- You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: jana.h...@cartermuseum.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-mcn_mcn-l-12800...@listserver.americaneagle.com --- You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: deborahwy...@hotmail.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-mcn_mcn-l-12800...@listserver.americaneagle.com --- You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: mri...@ima-art.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-mcn_mcn-l-12800...@listserver.americaneagle.com --- You are currently subscribed to mcn_mcn-l as: rlancefi...@mail.wesleyan.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-mcn_mcn-l-12800...@listserver.americaneagle.com
