The Getty Vocabularies
The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)
The Union List of Artist Names (ULAN)
The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN)

The Getty Vocabularies

The J. Paul Getty Trust has developed three vocabularies, the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), the Union List of Artist Names (ULAN), and the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN). Together, the AAT, ULAN, and TGN encompass terminology covering object names and descriptive terms, artists' names and biographies, and geographic information. These tools complement other Getty standards-based approaches to art and material culture information management, such as the Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA) and the Object ID Checklist.

The Getty vocabularies are used in three ways:

1. The Getty vocabularies are used in cataloging as sources of "standard terminology" in the description, and documentation of art and material culture collections.

2. The Getty vocabularies are used as "assistants" in database search engines.

3. The Getty Vocabularies are used as knowledge bases by researchers, who consult them for the information they contain.

The Getty Vocabularies are the following:

• data value standards that provide terminology for use in cataloging, indexing and documentation practice. They are most effective when used in combination with data structure standards (e.g., CDWA) and data content standards (e.g., AACR2).
  
  
• thesauri built according to standards. They follow the rules and conventions prescribed by standards organizations such as ISO, NISO, and other codes of practice for thesaurus construction.
  
  
• designed for use in both indexing and retrieval. They are intended to bridge the language of the indexer and that of the searcher. If the vocabularies are available at the time of the search query, the searcher can consult the vocabulary to see what likely terms are available for the query.
  
  
• facilitators for information-sharing among different types of collections. For example, the AAT can be used to describe subject matter for books in a library, works of art in a museum, records in an archive, or images on the Web.
  
  
• application independent. The Vocabularies can be applied in the electronic environment in a variety of applications (e.g., databases and search engines) as well as in manual indexing systems, such as a card file.
  
  
• evolving and growing tools. Work with contributors allows for on-going community input and expansion of coverage in specialized subject areas.

The Getty Vocabularies are dynamic works-in-progress allowing new terms to be added and older forms updated through collaboration with other art institutions. This consensual approach to vocabulary building helps ensure that vocabularies are adopted as data standards.

Find out more about the Getty Vocabulary Program at http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/.

The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)

• What is the AAT?
• What kind of terminology is in the AAT?
• How does the AAT work?
• How is the AAT used?

What is the AAT?

The AAT is a structured vocabulary containing around 125,000 terms and other information about concepts. The coverage of the AAT ranges from Antiquity to the present, and the scope is global. Terms in AAT may be used to describe art, architecture, decorative arts, material culture, and archival materials.

The focus of each AAT record is a concept. In the database, each concept (or "record") is identified by a unique numeric ID. Linked to each concept are terms, related concepts, a "parent" (that is, a position in the hierarchy), sources for the data, and notes. Terms for any concept can include the plural, singular, natural order, inverted order, spelling variants, various forms of speech, and synonyms that have various etymological roots. Among these terms, one is flagged as the preferred term, or "descriptor."

Sample AAT Record:

What kind of terminology is in the AAT?

The focus of the AAT is on art and architecture, as the title suggest. However, the AAT can provide terminology for the description, documentation, and retrieval of visual and textual surrogates for art, and for related disciplines.

The scope of the AAT is global, although currently it is richest in terminology used for art of Western Europe and North America. The AAT is growing and expanding coverage by incorporating additional data from a variety of Getty projects and external contributors. For example, a working group from the National Museum of African Art has added terminology for African styles/periods and object names.

The AAT includes terminology related to:

• works of art (e.g., painting, sculpture, mixed media)
• architecture (e.g., the built and natural environment)
• material culture (e.g., furniture, costume, and equipment)
• forms and genre (e.g., document types, records)
• cultural traditions (e.g., events)
  

High-Backed Chair for Miss Cranston's tea rooms, Argyle Street, Glasgow Charles Rennie Mackintosh 1898-99 Oak, stained dark, reupolstered with horsehair 53 7/8 x 19 7/8 x 18 3/16 inches, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow

Imagine, for example, that you are describing this Mackintosh chair. The AAT provides much of the vocabulary needed (in italics below):

What is it?	high-backed chair
What is it made of?	oak, horsehair
How was it made?	upholstered, stained, pierced
Who made it?	Charles Rennie Mackintosh, architect
When was it made?	1898-99
What style is it?	Arts and Crafts
What is it part of?	tea room
What condition is it in?	reupholstered
How was it used?	dining
What is it about?	anthropomorphic
Where did it come from?	Miss Cranston's Arbyle Street Tea Rooms
Where is it?	Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow

Note that the AAT does not include certain types of terminology. The areas listed below would be covered by other thesauri and vocabularies:

Personal Names:	Charles Rennie Mackintosh (ULAN)
Corporate Names:	Glasgow School of Art (Library of Congress authority files)
Geographic Place Names:	Glasgow (TGN)
Building Names:	Miss Cranston's Argyle Street Tearoom (local authority)
Historic Events:	Exhibition of Decorative Art, London, 1923 (Library of Congress authority files)
Iconographic themes:	Venus and Cupid (ICONCLASS)

How does the AAT work?

AAT STRUCTURE - Facets, Hierarchies, and Terms

A framework of seven categories, called facets, serves as the foundation for the AAT structure. The idea for a faceted structure is based on the classification of knowledge into faceted categories, developed by S.R. Ranganathan in the 1930s. The seven facets are the top levels of the AAT's hierarchical structure.

The order of the AAT facets reflects the particular point of view needed for a knowledge base for art and architecture. The order of the facets progress from the abstract concepts (Associated Concepts Facet) to the concrete, physical objects (Objects Facet).

Each facet is subdivided into hierarchies. Currently there are 33 hierarchies.

If you view the AAT Facets and Hierarchies with sample descriptors, you will see that the terms are displayed within the hierarchies by concept. The term you see in the hierarchical display is called a descriptor, which was chosen to represent the concept in the hierarchy.

AAT Facets and Hierarchies with Sample Terms

The Semantic Network of the AAT

In constructing the thesaurus all terms representing a single concept have been collected together and one has been established as the descriptor. In the hierarchies the descriptors are graphically displayed to show their genus-species relationships (broader term/narrower term). This is the first element of the semantic network. In a section of the Furnishings hierarchy in the AAT, you would see the broader term "chairs" and several of its narrower terms, such as "Adirondack chairs."

Next, synonyms, including variant spellings for that concept, are designated as Use For (UF) terms, and are linked to the descriptor. For the AAT descriptor "armchairs" you would see synonyms and spelling variants, such as "arming chairs."

In addition to the hierarchical and synonymous relationships among AAT terms, the semantic network is enriched by a third element, the associative relationship, represented by the related term (RT) link. For the AAT descriptor "armchairs" you would see related terms, such as "dining chairs"" (At the same time, take note of other important information found in this display, such as alternate forms of speech and the scope note.)

How is the AAT Used?

The AAT can be used as a data value standard in the documentation (cataloging, indexing, and description) of cultural heritage information. The AAT flags a preferred form of term the "descriptor," which is the form most often often used in scholarly by literature in the field. This descriptor may be used by those who wish to establish a consistent access point.

The AAT can be used as a search assistant in databases, by creating a semantic network (or roadmap) that shows links and paths among terms. When applied to a database(s), users can follow these paths composed of synonyms, broader/narrower terms, and related concepts to refine, expand, and enhance their searches and achieve more meaningful results.

Even if the AAT is not applied in the documentation stage, when used as a search assistant, the AAT is a powerful knowledge base -- linking searchers to information.

Read more about the AAT in the Readings section.

Try out the AAT online at http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/aat/.

Chapter 6 gives examples of how the AAT is used on the Web.

The Union List of Artist Names (ULAN)

• What is the ULAN?
• What kind of terminology is in the ULAN?
• How does the ULAN work?
• How is the ULAN used?

What is the ULAN?

The ULAN is a structured vocabulary that contains around 220,000 names and other information about artists. The coverage of the ULAN is from Antiquity to the present, and the scope is global. The scope of the ULAN includes any identified individual or "corporate body" (i.e., a group of people working together) involved in the design or creation of art and architecture.

The focus of each ULAN record is the artist. Linked to each record are names, relationships (including student-teacher relationships), locations (for birth, death, and activity), important dates (such as for birth and death), notes, and sources for the data. Names for any artist can include the vernacular, English, other languages, natural order, inverted order, nicknames, and pseudonyms. Among these names, one is flagged as the preferred name, or "descriptor."

Sample ULAN Record:

Search the ULAN record for the artist "Artemisia Gentileschi" online at http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/ulan/ to see biographical information and numerous variant names, such as "Artemisia Lomi."

What kinds of terminology does the ULAN cover?

ULAN includes more than 220,000 names representing nearly 110,000 artists (or "creators," including performance artists) and architects. Although the geographic coverage of the ULAN is global, it is currently richer in artists of Western Europe and North America. The Getty Vocabulary Program is expanding the geographic coverage of the ULAN by incorporating additional data from a variety of Getty projects and external contributors.

The following projects are contributors to the ULAN:

• Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
• Bibliography of the History of Art / Bibliographie d'Histoire de l'Art
  Canadian Center for Architecture
• Census of Antique Art and Architecture Known to the Renaissance
• Foundation for Documents of Architecture
• Frick Art Reference Library
• The J. Paul Getty Museum
• Getty Research Library
• Getty Research Library, Photo Archive
• Getty Provenance Index
• Getty Vocabulary Program
• Witt Checklist of Painters c.1200-1976
• Witt Computer Index
  

How does the ULAN work?

Like the other Getty vocabularies, the ULAN does not advocate a single form of an artist's name, but presents a range of choices that reflect art-historical usage.

In the ULAN, all name forms (including pseudonyms, nicknames, orthographic and linguistic variants) are included in a single record. Among them, one is "preferred," namely the one most commonly found in scholarly literature. Each entry also includes biographical data and bibliographic citations referring to the artist.

How is the ULAN used?

• The ULAN can be used as an authority file or data value standard in the documentation (cataloging, indexing, and description) of cultural heritage information. Building on consensus among its contributing projects and upon ranking according to scholarly usage, the ULAN establishes an "entry form" or "preferred name" that can be used as a collocating device or point of reference for all of the associated data relating to a particular artist or architect, including variant names, biographical information, and bibliographic citations.
• The ULAN can be used as a searching tool to enhance retrieval in online environments. Since pseudonyms, nicknames, and an unlimited number of orthographic and linguistic variants are linked in ULAN, it can penetrate linguistic and historical barriers by providing more access points than ever before, precisely because of its inclusive nature. When used in a retrieval engine on top of a database or other online resource, the ULAN can help users to refine, expand, and enhance their searches and to retrieve more meaningful results.

Even if the ULAN has not been used in the documentation stage, it is still a powerful knowledge base when used as a search assistant or retrieval tool that can lead searchers to information in both structured and unstructured data resources.

How does the ULAN work?

The ULAN is compiled from artists' names and biographical information that has been collected by various Getty projects and by other institutions outside the Getty. When multiple contributors have submitted information about the same artist or corporate body, all the names and information about this person or corporate body have been merged into a single record.

The ULAN includes names and associated information about artists. "Artists" may be either 1) individuals or 2) groups of individuals working together (corporate bodies). Artists in the ULAN generally represent creators involved in the conception or production of visual arts and architecture. Some performance artists are included (but not actors, dancers, or other performing artists).

Who is an artist? The definition of "artist" hinges upon the sometimes nebulous, often controversial, constantly changing definition of "art." For ULAN, artists represent creators who have been involved in the design or production of architecture or visual arts that are of the type and caliber collected by art museums. Note that these are works of visual art of the type collected by art museums. The objects themselves may actually be held by an ethnographic, anthropological or other museum, or owned by a private collector. Included are painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, and a host of other creators. Excluded are professionals who may play one of these roles, but whose products are not considered "art." For example, a portrait painter is probably creating "art," but a house painter is not. Photographers who create still photographs of landscapes, portraits, still lives, or abstract compositions of the caliber of "art" are included in ULAN; but photographers producing forensic photographs or military photographs are generally outside the scope of ULAN. Likewise, an engineer involved in the artistic process of designing architecture is included in ULAN; but engineers who design diesel engines and biomedical engineers are outside the scope of ULAN.

Anonymous artists. Anonymous artists are within the scope of ULAN if the hand of the anonymous artist has been identified. In such cases, it is common to create an identity for him. Appellations for such anonymous people have been devised by museums and scholars in the field (e.g., Master of the Morgan or Monogrammist AEL). Other information may be deduced from the art works, including locus of activity, roles, and approximate dates of activity. In such cases, the general locus and time frame of activity are known, but the name is uncertain. Unidentified artistic personalities are outside the scope of ULAN. An unidentified artist includes creators of artworks where the identity of a hand is not established. The generic identification that is often devised for an object record (for example, unknown Florentine, 16th cen.) is not a "legal" record in the ULAN. In this case, the generic identification does not refer to one identified, if anonymous, individual; but instead the same heading refers to any of hundreds of anonymous, unidentified artistic personalities.

Corporate bodies. Corporate bodies that are creators of art or architecture are within the scope of ULAN. Corporate bodies in ULAN include legally incorporated bodies (e.g., architectural firms) and other groups of people working together to collectively create art (e.g., Gobelins Manufactory or the Della Robbia family). Corporate bodies in ULAN must be organized, identifiable groups of individuals working together in a particular place and within a defined period of time. Generic reference to a cultural group is not considered a corporate body, and is outside the scope of ULAN. A workshop may be included in ULAN if the workshop itself is a distinct personality collectively responsible for the creation of art (for example, the 13th-century group of French illuminators, Soissons atelier). Generic attributions to studios or workshops are outside the scope of ULAN. For example, when a painting is attributed to some unknown hand in the workshop of a known artist (e.g., as might be expressed in an object record as workshop of Raffaello Sanzio), this is outside the scope of ULAN. This example illustrates the same situation as with unknown Florentine above, though the pool of possible individuals is smaller, being limited to a single workshop. In such cases, "workshop of" is more properly a qualifier for the attribution to Raffaello Sanzio in an object record.

Relationships in ULAN

All relationships between names within the same ULAN record are equivalence relationships.

Schiavone, Andrea (preferred) Andre Schiavon Andrea Schiavoni Andrea Medolla Andrea Escabon Medola, Andrea Medulic, Andrija

Associative relationships may exist between and among people and corporate body records in ULAN. For example, an artist may have a student/teacher relationship with his master. Family relationships are noted only if the family member was an artist or other important historical figure.

Bartolo di Fredi RELATED PERSON: father of Andrea di Bartolo RELATED PERSON: probably was apprentice of Niccolò di Ser Sozzo, probably after Black Death of 1348

Also, corporate bodies and other groups of individuals may be related to single individuals, as a workshop or architectural firm should be related to its members. An architectural firm that has reorganized with new partners may have a relationship with the original firm.

Skidmore, Owings, and Merril (architectural firm) RELATED PEOPLE: members Louis Skidmore Nathaniel Owings John Merril, Sr. Gordon Bunshaft Charles Edward Bassett

There may be hierarchical relationships between corporate bodies in ULAN. Corporate bodies may have hierarchical administrative structures, and these hierarchical relationships should be recorded by using separate ULAN records that are linked.

Gobelins, Manufacture Royale des Painting Studio Sculpture Studio Tapestry Manufactory Dye Works Furniture Manufactory Marquetry Studio Pietra Dura Studio Metalwork Studio Engraving Studio

Hierarchical relationships are not used to create family trees between artists or relationships between workshops and its members. Instead, these are associative relationships in ULAN.

Read more about ULAN in the Readings section.

View examples on the Web of how the ULAN is used in Examples.

Try out ULAN online at http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/ulan/.

Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN)

• What is the TGN?
• What kind of terminology is in the TGN?
• How does the TGN work?
• How is the TGN used?

What is the TGN?

The TGN is a structured vocabulary containing around 1,000,000 names and other information about places. The TGN includes all continents and nations of the modern political world, as well as historical places. It includes physical features and administrative entities, such as cities and nations. The emphasis in TGN is on places important for art and architecture.

The focus of each TGN record is a place, represented by a unique numeric ID in the database. Linked to the record for the place are names, a "parent" or position in the hierarchy, other relationships, geographic coordinates, notes, sources for the data, and "place types," which are terms describing the role of the place (e.g., "inhabited place" and "state capital"). Names for any place can include the vernacular, English, other languages, historical names, natural order, and inverted order. Among these names, one is flagged as the preferred name, or "descriptor."

Sample TGN Record:

Information in TGN was contributed by several projects, including the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA), the Foundation for Documents of Architecture (FDA), the Getty Research Library Photo Archive, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Vocabulary Program. In the future, the Vocabulary Program hopes to work with other institutions to update and supplement the database, with particular emphasis on the addition of historical information.

The TGN data model is compatible with that suggested by the Thesaurus Artis Universalis (TAU) group of the Comité International d'Histoire de l'Art (CIHA), published in A Methodological Approach to Producing a Historical/Geographical Databank.

What kinds of terminology does the TGN cover?

They include physical features such as continents, rivers, and mountains, and political entities, such as empires, nations, states, districts, townships, cities, and neighborhoods.

The minimum record for each place represented in TGN includes a name for the place and at least one "place type." The minimum name that is always included is the name in the language spoken in the place, the so-called "vernacular" name. If the place has a commonly-used English name as well, this will generally be included. The "place type" is a word or phrase that characterizes one or more significant aspects of the place, including its physical characteristics, role, function, size or political anatomy (e.g., "island," "nation," "province," "inhabited place"). Depending on what contributors provide, a TGN record can also include further information, including alternate names and additional place types.

How does the TGN work?

Names
TGN contains around 1,000,000 names. Like the other Getty vocabularies, TGN is a "vocabulary", not an "authority". It is not required to use any one form of name for a place. However, each place record in TGN contains a so-called "preferred name" or entry-form name. It was necessary to flag one name to represent that place in the hierarchy and in alphabetical lists. Since the audience for TGN is international, the preferred name is the name commonly used in the language of the place (the "vernacular" name). Even though one name is flagged as preferred for practical purposes, the English name is also flagged, and all names in TGN are equal in retrieval; searching by any name, preferred or alternate, will retrieve the full record for the place.

Because one goal of TGN is to provide wider access to art and bibliographic databases, one of the current and future priorities is to include as many alternate names as possible. Alternate names may include all variations in spelling (including differences in diacritical marks, punctuation, or capitalization), names in different languages, nicknames, and historical names. The commonly-used English name for the place is generally flagged. Names may have associated "display dates," which are short notes describing when the name was used.

Most names in TGN were derived from standard general reference sources, including the U.S. Geological Survey, atlases, loose maps, gazetteers, guide books, geographic dictionaries, encyclopedias and Web sites, including the U.S. National Imagery and Mapping Agency. Other sources include books on the history of art and architecture, journal articles, newspaper articles, newsletters from ISO and the United Nations, letters and telephone calls to embassies, inscriptions on art objects, and catalog records of repositories of art objects.

Place Types
The place type is a word or phrase that characterizes a significant aspect of the place, including its size, function, role, political anatomy, or physical characteristics. In TGN, place types are indexing terms derived from a list of controlled vocabulary. One place type in each record is flagged "preferred." As with preferred names, a preferred place type is necessary because one place type must be selected to appear with the preferred name in an identification of the place.

In fuller records, additional place type terms have been included, and may be flagged as current or historical. Place types may have an associated display date, describing when or how the term applied to the place.

Note the examples of place types for Marrakesh, Morocco, below:

- inhabited place (C) founded by Yusuf ibn-Tashfin in 1062 city (C) - provincial capital (C) - commercial center (C) - transportation center (C) - religious center (C) important medieval center of Islam - royal residence (H) - capital (H) of Almoravid dynasty, until 1147; of Almohades from 1147; of Morocco, 1550-1660

Latitude and Longitude
Around 90 percent of the place records in TGN include geographic coordinates. The point indicated by the latitude and longitude represents a point in or near the center of the inhabited place, political entity, or physical feature.

Descriptive Note
For records that include supplemental information provided by Getty editors, a note has been included to describe the place. This note may provide additional information about the place, or expand on information in other fields (including display dates for names and place types). Topics that may be covered in this note include the political history of the place, a physical description, and its importance relative to other places or to the history of art and architecture.

Hierarchy
Hierarchy in TGN refers to the method of structuring and displaying the inhabited places within their broader contexts. Since many places may have the same name, the name of a city alone does not identify it; for example, there are many towns and cities called "Columbus" in the United States. The city exists within the larger context of a county, which is part of a state, and the state in turn exists within the larger context of the nation. The following shows the hierarchy surrounding the town of "Columbus, Indiana":

North and Central America (continent) United States (nation) Indiana (state) Bartholomew (county) Columbus (inhabited place)

Places in the hierarchy
Places are represented in the hierarchy by their "preferred" or entry-form name and a "preferred" place type in parentheses. Indentation is used to indicate part/whole relationships - that is, broader and narrower contexts—for places in the hierarchy.

South America (continent) Argentina (nation) Chaco (province) Barranqueras (inhabited place) Basail (inhabited place) Campo Largo (inhabited place) Charadai (inhabited place)

Levels in the hierarchy
The main subdivisions in the hierarchy include the continents, nations, and main political subdivisions within nations (e.g., states, regions, provinces, etc.). Whenever possible, every nation has at least one level of subdivision, and some nations have two (e.g., the USA has the levels of state and county). Since the TGN hierarchy has too many levels to display on a computer screen simultaneously, the display usually shows only the first level below the target place, and as many levels above it as possible. In this example, the ellipsis (...) indicates that there are additional places beneath a given level in the hierarchy.

Africa (continent) Kenya (nation) Central (province) ... Choichuff, Laga (river) Coast (province) ...

Generally, the hierarchy in TGN goes only to the level of the inhabited place. However, the level of neighborhood has been included for some of the world's largest cities. TGN currently does not include streets or buildings within inhabited places.

Europe (continent) Österreich (nation) Wein (state) Wein (inhabited place) Alte Donau (lake) Altmannsdorf (suburb) Aspern (suburb) Atzgersdorf (suburb) Augarten (park) Breitenlee (suburb)

Multiple Parents
Places in TGN may be linked to multiple places as broader contexts, that is, places may have "multiple parents" in the hierarchy. For example, a dependent state such as Bermuda may be physically located in North and Central America; however, it also is politically associated with the United Kingdom.

In TGN, Bermuda's main position in the hierarchy represents its physical location.

North and Central America (continent) Anguilla (dependent state) ... Bahamas (nation) ... Belize (nation) ... Bermuda (dependent state) ...

In Bermuda's alternate hierarchical view it displays under the United Kingdom. This alternate view is indicated with an "N" (indicating "non-preferred") in the hierarchy.

Europe (continent) United Kingdom (nation) Anguilla [N] ... Bermuda [N] ... England (country) ...

How is the TGN used?

The TGN is intended to be a source of geographic names for cataloging and retrieving records about works of art and artists, and for other disciplines. Geographic names are used to record the location of the art object, its place of origin, the loci of activity of the artist, and the sites of the artist's birth and death. TGN provides users with vernacular and English names of places, as well as variant names in other languages, historical names, and other information.

One of the most valuable uses of TGN and the Getty's other vocabularies is in retrieval over disparate data sets.

The Getty updates the TGN with the help of contributors who 1) add more towns and villages in the current hierarchy, 2) add more information about places already in TGN, and 3) create historical points of view.

Read more about TGN in the Readings section.

Try out TGN online at http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/tgn/.