Home
Preface
Outline of the Categories of Information
Introduction
Building a Common Framework for Catalogue Entries
Implementing a Common Framework
Introduction
Organization of the Guidelines
Groups/Items
Subjects/Built Works
People/Corporate Bodies
Geographic Locations
Bibliographic Sources
Introduction
Group Entries
Volume (Sketchbook) Entry
Item Entries
Glossary
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
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A Guide to the Description of Architectural Drawings


Part Two: Guidelines


Introduction

The guidelines that follow are not intended to provide a specification of data elements, i.e., a data dictionary. Implementation will require rigorous analysis of the characteristics and interrelationships of the categories defined here vis-à-vis the data structures and functions available in a given system.

The guidelines follow the organization of the categories of information, which are divided into the following areas, corresponding to the entities discussed earlier:
  • Groups/Items
  • Subjects/Built Works
  • People/Corporate Bodies
  • Geographic Locations
  • Bibliographic Sources


In repositories of architectural documents, the main focus of cataloguing is usually the documents themselves, although much of the cataloguing concerns closely related information about people (e.g., draftsmen, architects, clients), subjects and/or built works, and geography (e.g., locations of structures). Accordingly, the first part, Groups/Items, focuses on the information that is most particular to documents, e.g., their date of execution and purpose. Related information, such as the biographical histories of makers, appears in the authorities: Subjects/Built Works, People/Corporate Bodies, and Geographic Locations. (For instance, a biographical history would be found in People/Corporate Bodies.) This approach avoids repetition of categories that otherwise might appear in more than one area.

Cross-references are made between individual categories in order to point out that a relationship exists. These appear under Implementation as authority-controlled, followed by the name of the related area, e.g., People/Corporate Bodies. An example is Name. This category stands not only for a name or names but also for biographical information about the person who made the group/item (this information about the person may be found under People/Corporate Bodies). It is important to be able to retrieve entries through these related categories. For instance, it should be possible to retrieve all documents by makers with a specified locus of activity. Typical queries will almost always involve combinations of categories drawn from two or more areas.

Finally, each area is, where appropriate, divided into a number of sections. These sections collocate categories of information that are interdependent, or closely related, e.g., Technique, Medium, Support, and Watermark are all Physical Characteristics.