Cataloging General Practices

Cataloging images involves assigning information to a record about the work pictured in the image at hand and about the image itself. This information is called metadata, or data about data. The job of the Cataloger is to describe the work and image in such a way that is consistent with the VRA Core 4.0 metadata schema, the Cataloging of Cultural Objects metadata standard and local practice.

There are several cataloging queues used in the VRC. Our regular workflow uses the Vcat (Vireocat) database, running on FileMaker Pro, to describe the work and image. Special projects may not use Vcat, depending on how much information we have on hand. Gift collections are notoriously short on metadata, and we often use a truncated cataloging sequence to describe them. Vcat is also a complicated relational database that has a high learning curve. Training a new Cataloger for a small project is not cost effective. Instead we may design a simpler, flat database for metadata entry, or use a spreadsheet.

In any case, controlled vocabularies and regularized data are key to providing consistent access points for the expert and non-expert to find our images in our online collection, the Art & Architecture Images database. Controlled vocabularies in use in AAI can be browsed using the Browsing categories listed on the lower left side of the AAI homepage, or by finding another image of the same work in AAI. Vcat has its controlled vocabularies built in it and added to as needed by the Catalogers.

There are a number of resources Catalogers may draw upon. The first and most important is the Staff. Ask questions if you are confused. We can help. The second is the UO Vcat (Vireocat) Blog. When decisions are made regarding local practice, it is archived on the blog for future reference. Third, the faculty are experts in their field. You are encouraged to ask them questions as long as you don’t pester. Another resource is the VRA-L mailing list, available to VRA members only. The Staff may defer a decision to pose the question to the VR community at large. There are also a number of publications intended for image cataloging. Ask the Staff if you are interested in a particular subject.

Image cataloging is not like book cataloging. There is no Title Page for an image. The information you need is rarely provided in full, and things as simple as a title are not regularized and may differ between identical images depending on their origin. Image cataloging up to VRA Core 4.0 standards also splits metadata about the image on hand and information about the work pictured in the image into two different records that feed into one another. This “relational” data structure allows one to catalog the work once, and produce many image records with minimal duplication of effort. Vcat calls these two metadata records Work records and Image records. When cataloging a work, one enters metadata about the work into the Work record. When cataloging an image (such as a digital image), one enters metadata about the image into the Image record. If you have doubts about what is the Work and what is the Image you are cataloging, ask the Staff for guidance.

Authorities, or controlled vocabularies, specifically for works of art don’t yet exist. Instead we use more general authorities and adapt them to our cataloging system. The Library of Congress Name Authority File and Subject Authority File, the Getty Vocabularies which include the Art & Architecture Thesaurus, the Union List of Artist Names and the Thesaurus of Geographic Names are available online for consultation, as is the Grove Dictionary of Art Repositories list and the Library of Congress Thesaurus of Graphic Materials. Each of these Authorities can be used to build new Authorities within Vcat. Vcat Authorities feed into the Work and Image records you create, providing consistency between records and works. Authorities in Vcat and in the AAI database can also guide metadata entry for records produced in other cataloging databases or spreadsheets. Building Authorities in Vcat can take time, but once created, the Authority remains on hand for future cataloging, and inconsistencies in spelling and form are eliminated.

Full training for Vcat involves:

· Navigating the interfaces

· The difference between a Work and an Image

· Creating a Work record

· Using and building Authorities

· Worktypes and Classifications vs. Subject Headings

· Assigning Subject Headings

· Creating an Image record

The Vcat Best Practices document briefly describes each field in all the Administrative layouts, Authorities, the Image and Work records. It can and should be referred any time you have questions about form. Other Project cataloging queues are described in the Kingston Heath Project document, the Landscape Architecture Project document, the Shellenbarger Project document, and the Folklore Project document.