How To Use Nomenclature 4.0

For Museum Cataloging

A Presentation by the Nomenclature Task Force

How to Use Nomenclature 4.0 This presentation will cover: • What is Nomenclature 4.0 and why should my museum

use it? • How is Nomenclature 4.0 used? • How do I add terms? • How can my museum adopt it? Note: Content of this presentation is based on “Nomenclature Users’

Guide” found at the front of the printed edition.

What is Nomenclature 4.0? Nomenclature 4.0 is: • a structured and controlled list of object terms organized

in a classification system.

• intended for cataloging collections of cultural objects.

• a practical, flexible framework which can be expanded by museums to reflect their needs.

Why should my museum use Nomenclature 4.0?

• Museum collections records are most useful if objects are named consistently.

• Hierarchical arrangement of records by object function makes it easier to work with record groups.

• Consistent catalog records facilitate the sharing of data.

Using Nomenclature 4.0 This tutorial will include: • Using the Alphabetical Index • Using the Object Term Hierarchies • Unknown Objects • Adding Terms • Cross-Indexing • cataloging

– Object Sets – Object Components – Cataloging Toys and Models – Containers and their Contents

• Adopting Nomenclature • Nomenclature Community

Using the Alphabetical Index (1) 1. Start by looking up likely terms for the item you are

cataloging in the alphabetical index at the back of the book.

• Note the inverted order of terms (e.g. Knife, Kitchen).

Using the Alphabetical Index (2)

Note Inverted Order of Terms

Using the Alphabetical Index (3) 2. If the term is found, go to the page number indicated

and find the term in the object term hierarchy

Using the Alphabetical Index (4) 3. If you do not find the exact term, look at broader and

narrower terms and other terms grouped in the same part of the hierarchy to determine which term is the most suitable.

- For example, “Knife, Belt” is not in the list, but “Knife, Hunting” is, and might make a good substitute.

Using the Object Term Hierarchies (1)

1. If no likely terms come to mind, catalogers are advised to look at the list of categories, classes, and sub-classes inside the front and back covers.

Categories 1-4 are listed inside front cover

Categories 5-10 are listed inside back cover

Using the Object Term Hierarchies (2)

2. Select the likely category for the object based on its function.

– For example, if you were cataloging a “shelter-half” (half of a temporary, 2-person shelter):

• You notice that this term is not found in the alphabetical index.

• Look at Category 1, “Built Environment Objects”.

Using the Object Term Hierarchies (3)

3. Determine which class or sub-class is most appropriate for the object.

4. Find the page for that class or sub-class and read the

definition, to confirm. – e.g. “Dwelling” is not used for temporary structures,

so is not appropriate for the shelter-half. – Look at sub-class “Other Structures”.

Using the Object Term Hierarchies (4)

5. Note the hierarchical arrangement of the object terms – primary, secondary, and tertiary terms. Scan down the list of primary object terms; for any likely primary terms, check the lists of secondary and tertiary terms to find the most appropriate term.

– For the shelter-half, the best term would be “Tent”.

Using the Object Term Hierarchies (5)

6. Use a broad or specific term, depending on your level of knowledge of the type of object being cataloged.

Unknown Objects • Assign objects whose names are unknown to a broad

class.

• If the object cannot be identified at all, use “Object, Unidentified" from Unclassifiable Objects (Category 10).

Adding Specialist Terms • Museums may, after careful consideration, add terms to

the lexicon and organize them within the hierarchy. • Review existing classes and sub-classes to see where

the specialist terms would fit in the hierarchy, and look at existing object terms to see if any of them qualify as broader terms for your specialist term.

• Check how other institutions have approached the same or similar objects (check on Nomenclature Community website).

• Make your lexicon additions known to the AASLH Nomenclature Task Force, so that they may be adopted as needed.

Adding Regional/Ethnic terms • Consider whether it is more reasonable for your museum

to use regional/ethnic terms than “standard” terms.

• Ideally, use Nomenclature-approved terms and place non-standard terms in an alternate name or descriptive field.

• Alternatively, add regional or ethnic terms as non-preferred terms.

Adding Terms for Natural History Collections

• Nomenclature was created to deal with human-made objects, but can be used for Natural History within the context of human activity.

• Enter terms from an appropriate scientific classification system, organizing them under the Nomenclature terms: – Specimen, Animal – Specimen, Plant – Geospecimen

Adding Terms for Archaeological and Ethnographic Collections

• Nomenclature includes terms for archaeological and ethnographic items.

• If function is known, classify these objects like any other.

• If the object is fragmented or unidentified, Category 10 terms (Unclassifiable Objects) are useful.

Adding Terms for Raw Materials • Classify raw materials (e.g. piece of leather, skein of

wool) along with either the Tools & Equipment (T&E) Category that: – would most probably be used in transforming the

material into a finished product OR – produced them as a finished product.

• Nomenclature also includes certain material genre terms

(e.g. “Material, Animal”; “Stock, Metal”; “Bolt, Cloth”).

• In many cases, use the term “Sample, Material” and enter the name of the material itself in a separate materials field.

Adding Terms for Archival Lots • Nomenclature may be used to deal with batches of

archival material that may not be individually cataloged.

• Nomenclature includes terms such as “Archive” and “Fonds”.

• Archival objects can often be classified as types of Documentary Objects, such as Legal Documents, Government Records, Financial Records, etc.

Cross-Indexing (1) • Many museum objects straddle the divisions between

functional categories.

• Recommended practice is to use more than one term to name the object, if doing so will improve cross-referencing and make the object more accessible.

Cross-Indexing (2) • An object may have more than one purpose:

– A wedding dress would belong in both Ceremonial Objects (Category 8) AND Clothing (Category 3).

• An object may consist of multiple components: – A home entertainment center with built-in TV would belong in

both Storage & Display Furniture (Category 2) AND Telecommunication Devices (Category 6).

• An object may be described by more than one object term: – An armchair used for dining – “Armchair” AND “Chair, Dining”.

Cross-Indexing (3) • Nomenclature distinguishes between objects that serve

as media for recording information (T&E for Communication), and objects that contain recorded information (Documentary Objects). Many objects may be both (e.g. a legal pad on which notes are written).

• In addition to a term to describe the content (e.g. “Photograph”, “Report”, “Ticket”), the museum may choose to use a term to describe the digital format (e.g. “Art, Digital”, “Document, Digital”, “Medium, Digital Exchange”, etc.)

Cross-Indexing (4) • Cross-indexing aids the cataloger in selecting

appropriate additional terms for the object. • “May also use" notes are listed to the right of a many

object terms.

“May also use” notes offer suggestions for cross-indexing

Object Sets (1) • Nomenclature 4.0 includes some terms describing a

grouping of functional objects such as “Set”, “Suite”, “Service”.

• Ideally, catalog each object in the set individually, and also create a separate record for the set, referencing the pieces. – e.g. one record for “Set, Sugar and Creamer”, and

one record for each of the two pieces: “Bowl, Sugar”, and “Pitcher, Cream”.

Object Sets (2) • If you are only creating a single record for a whole set,

use the “set” term in addition to terms describing individual objects in the set. – e.g. one record contains terms:

• “Set, Sugar and Creamer” • “Bowl, Sugar” • “Pitcher, Cream”

• This ensures that all sugar bowls will be found, even if

they are parts of sets.

Object Sets (3) • You may also wish to add the “set” term to each of the

catalog records for individual set pieces, to indicate that the object is part of a set.

• However, this will falsely inflate the number of “sets” in your collection.

• Determine your own rules for cataloging sets, based on what is practical for your institution.

Object Components (1) • Nomenclature 4.0 includes some terms to describe

objects that are parts of other objects, but it was not possible to include all possible part names.

• Museums need to decide how to handle those part names not listed in Nomenclature, and be consistent.

Object Components (2) • Some museums may use the term for the entire object to

describe the part (e.g. include “Ax” in the record for an ax handle).

• Some museums add specific terms for components and organize them in the same way as the term describing the entire object (e.g. add “Handle, Ax” added to the lexicon under “Woodworking T&E” where “Ax” is).

Object Components (3) • It is recommended that new part terms are organized

under an appropriate “Accessories” sub-class, if one exists.

• “Fragment” (Category 10) is only used for pieces that have torn or broken off and do not have distinctive terms to describe them. If the identity of the whole object is known, it can be entered in a subject field.

Toys and Models (1) • Miniature representations of objects do not have the

same function as the objects they depict.

• They are toys, models, or works of art.

Toys and Models (2) Various solutions: 1. Use multiple terms (e.g. model ship is “Ship” and

“Model”. Not ideal, because a model ship is not really a ship, but will be found in a search for ships.

Toys and Models (3) Various solutions: 2. Create compound terms – for example: • Model ship is “Ship, Model”, organized as narrower

terms under “Model” under “Other Documents” in Category 8.

• Toy cookstove is “Cookstove, Toy”, organized under “Toys” in Category 9.

Problem : Thousands of new terms may need to be added

under “Toys” or “Other Documents”, and these will need a hierarchical organization of their own.

Toys and Models (4) Various solutions: 3. Enter “Toy” or “Model” in the Object Name field, and the

term for the object represented in a separate subject field. This is the best solution, but may pose difficulties in

integrating with subject vocabularies within subject field.

Containers and their Contents (1) • Some containers named by form

– e.g. “Bag”, “Bottle”, “Box”, “Can”, “Jar”

• Some containers specifically named and classified by their contents – e.g. “Pillbox”

Containers and their Contents (2) Product Packages • Use both “Package, Product” (from “Merchandising T&E)

and a generic term from the “Container” class to describe the container’s form.

• This cross-indexes the product package as both a container and a merchandising object. Note the contents of the package in a separate field.

Containers and their Contents (3) Containers for Objects • Classify specialized containers with the objects for which

they are designed. – e.g. guitar case would be classified in Musical T&E;

the case in the Musical Accessories sub-class, and the guitars in the Musical Instruments sub-class.

Containers and their Contents (4) Containers for Objects Not all specialized containers are included. Catalogers may

need to add terms consisting of a generic container term (e.g. “Case”, “Bottle”) to the Nomenclature term for which the object is designed. – e.g. “Case, Clarinet”

• Such a term should be organized under a broader

Nomenclature term such as “Case, Musical Instrument”.

• Or, just use the broader Nomenclature term, “Case, Musical Instrument”.

Containers and their Contents (5) Containers for Consumable Products • Avoid including consumable product names (e.g. Bottle,

Juice”) in object name field.

• This information can be entered as part of subject or description. – e.g. mayonnaise jar would be “Package, Product” and

“Jar” in object name, and “Mayonnaise” in subject or description

Adopting Nomenclature (1) Nomenclature Availability • Paper Book - available from Rowman & Littlefield,

Amazon.com, or Amazon.ca.

• eBook - available from Rowman & Littlefield.

• Electronic file available for integration with collections management systems.

Adopting Nomenclature (2) For First-Time Users • Convert uncontrolled object names to terms found in

Nomenclature.

• Move any descriptive information that has been intermixed with object names to more appropriate data fields.

• Relate the newly-assigned object terms to their respective categories in Nomenclature.

Adopting Nomenclature (3) For Users of Past Editions of Nomenclature • Many new terms added, preferred and non-preferred.

• Some terms deleted, or changed spelling or punctuation.

• A few terms moved from one category or class to

another to correct or improve fit.

• Nomenclature 3.0 and 4.0 include: – new hierarchical level sub-class, as well as hierarchical object

terms (primary, secondary, tertiary) to aid in cataloging. – recommendation to cross-index.

Adopting Nomenclature (4) For Users of Past Editions of Nomenclature Integrated

in Collections Systems • Some vendors of collections management software have

upgraded their built-in database lexicons and are facilitating the migration of client data.

• These software products will modify or re-organize Revised Nomenclature / Nomenclature 3.0 terms as appropriate, and convert existing data in clients' catalog records accordingly.

Adopting Nomenclature (5) For Users of Past Editions of Nomenclature Integrated

in Collections Systems • After an automatic conversion, museums will need to

clean pre-existing data. – Review local terms they have added to see if they are

now included in Nomenclature 4.0, and if not, decide where to organize them in the new structure.

– Review terms in their records to determine if a better or more specific term from Nomenclature 4.0 may now apply.

Adopting Nomenclature (6) For Users of Past Editions of Nomenclature, Upgrading Without Vendor Support • If your museum is not using software that incorporates Nomenclature 4.0, or you are

doing the upgrade manually, you will need to look up every term you have used to find out how it is handled in Nomenclature 4.0, and update the term and its hierarchical position accordingly. Some terms may have changed spellings or may have been removed, and many will have been moved within the hierarchy.

• You will also need to review all the local terms that you added to your lexicon to determine if they are covered in Nomenclature 4.0. If they are covered, change your data to Nomenclature 4.0 terminology. If they are not covered, determine how best to organize them within the new hierarchical structure of Nomenclature 4.0.

• If you are upgrading from Revised Nomenclature, this will be a substantial amount of work, depending on the number of items you have cataloged. You will want to assess the work required and make sure it is feasible before deciding to upgrade. It is better to be consistently using Revised Nomenclature than only being able to manage a partial conversion resulting in inconsistencies.

• If you are upgrading from Nomenclature 3.0, the upgrade will be much easier.

Nomenclature Community (1) • Nomenclature Community

http://community.aaslh.org/nomenclature/

• Use the site to learn about Nomenclature 4.0, share news and ask advice, and submit your own proposals for additions and changes for future editions.

Nomenclature Community (2)

http://community.aaslh.org/nomenclature/

Nomenclature 4.0 Thank you!

For more information, visit the Nomenclature Community site

http://community.aaslh.org/nomenclature/