Preferred Name
"preferred" following a name indicates that the name is the so-called "preferred name" for the record. It is typically the first in a list of names for the place.

A preferred name or "descriptor" is flagged in order to provide a default name for the thesaurus and other displays. It may also be used by cataloguers who wish to apply TGN as an "authority," and consistently use a single name to refer to a place. In TGN, the "preferred" name is the commonly used "vernacular" (local) name. Where there is no local language, as with continents or oceans, the default "preferred" name is in English. Note that, where there is an English name for any place, the Preferred English name is flagged as "English-P." It is typically not the first name in the list, except in English-speaking nations. Cataloguers who prefer the English name instead of the vernacular should use the name flagged "English-P" where there is one, and default to the overall "preferred" (vernacular) where no English equivalent exists. Note that for over 90% of the geographical places in the world, there is no English equivalent; English speakers use the vernacular name for these places. The preferred name in other languages may also be indicated, e.g., "French-P."

Diacritics: If a box displays instead of a character in a name or term, this means that your system cannot display the Unicode character represented. You may view the full name or term with correct diacritics by using Vista, Mac OS 10.5, or often by pasting the word into an MS Word document.











Historical Flag
Indicates if the name is current or historical.

Vernacular Flag
Indicates if the name is in the vernacular (local) language, or some other language.

Diacritics: If a box displays instead of a character in a name or term, this means that your system cannot display the Unicode character represented. You may view the full name or term with correct diacritics by using Vista, Mac OS 10.5, or often by pasting the word into an MS Word document.

Name Type Flag
Indicates the type of name or term, currently set to N/A in TGN.

Other Flags
Indicates various characteristics of the name.

Display Name
"display" following the name indicates that the name should be used in horizontal displays or other displays where confusion may result from using the preferred name. For example, when the name of a city is the same as the name of a county, in a horizontal display, the name of the county should include the word "county" for clarity. In the following example, "Los Angeles county" is a display name: "Los Angeles (Los Angeles county, California, United States)"

Language of the Name and Preferred Flag

The language of the name may be included. If the language is followed by "P" (as in "English-P") this means that this is the preferred name for the place in that language. Multiple languages may be included for a single name, because one spelling of the name may be preferred in multiple languages. See also Preferred Name above.

Note that, even when the term represents a language other than English, the qualifier is still in English (in the rare case that a TGN name has a qualifier). The qualifier is located in a separate field and is not part of the term per se. All information other than the term itself is in English.

Diacritics: If a box displays instead of a character in a name or term, this means that your system cannot display the Unicode character represented. You may view the full name or term with correct diacritics by using Vista, Mac OS 10.5, or often by pasting the word into an MS Word document.

Record Type

Type designation that characterizes the TGN record.

Refers to places defined by administrative boundaries and conditions, including inhabited places, nations, and empires.

Refers to physical features, defined by their physical characteristics on planet Earth, including mountains, rivers, and oceans.

Used for places that are both administrative and physical.

Refers to records that serve as place savers to create a level in the hierarchy under which the TGN can collocate related places. They are enclosed in angled brackets.
















Preferred Flag
"preferred" following a place type indicates that the place type is the so-called "preferred" place type for the record. It is typically the first in a list of place types for the place. A preferred place type is flagged in order to provide a default place type for the thesaurus and other displays.
















Historical Flag
Indicates if the Place Type is current or historical.

 


Non-preferred Parents
[N] indicates "non-preferred" parent. Places may have multiple hierarchical views because TGN is polyhierarchical. One parent is considered "preferred," and other parents are "non-preferred." When places are displaying with their non-preferred parent, an "N" in square brackets appears to the right.
















Representative Images
A selected small number of vocabulary records have been linked to images in the Getty collections and elsewhere. Further development of this project will take place in 2010 and beyond.













  


Hierarchical Historical Flag
Indicates if the link to the parent is current, historical, or of another type.

 


Flag for Hierarchical Relationship Type
Indicates the type of relationship between a hierarchical child and its parent, expressed in the jargon of controlled vocabulary standards. An example of whole/part is Tuscany is a part of Italy (TGN). An example of genus/species is calcite is a type of mineral (AAT). An example of the instance relationship is Rembrandt van Rijn is an example of a Person (ULAN).

LC Flag
Indicates if this is a name used in preferred headings in Library of Congress authorities. Also called the "AACR2 flag."

Language Status Flag
Flag indicating loan words. Given that most names in TGN are not translated into other langauges, this flag is generally not used in TGN.

Part of Speech Flag
In TGN, primarily used to flag adjectival name forms (e.g., Italian for Italy); the name field in TGN usually contains proper nouns.