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 Descriptive Date
Earliest Date
Latest Date
These categories record the period of time in which the group or item was made. The definition of date of execution can vary slightly according to the level of cataloguing:
Groups are composed of more than one item, and therefore they are commonly made over a period of time. The date of execution for groups can be expressed as follows:
- Inclusive or span dates: the dates of the earliest and latest dated documents, all other documents in the group being dated between them.
- Bulk dates: the dates of the earliest and latest dated documents of any subset(s) taken to be the principal body or bodies of records. More than one set of bulk dates may be expressed for any group.
Albums often have a compilation date that may be different from the date of execution of the contents. Like groups, contents of albums may have inclusive (span) dates and bulk dates.
Items may have span dates or single dates and may be dated in the following ways:
- Drawings: the date or span of dates when the image(s) were drawn.
- Prints: the date on which the print was pulled. Execution date of the design of the plate may be noted in Descriptive Date as well.
- Models: the date or span of dates when the model was constructed.
Date of Execution does not include the date(s) of the subjects depicted (see Subject/Built Work Characteristics, under Subject/Built Works).
Most of the guidelines for this section can be applied to all areas where dates are recorded, including date of execution for groups and items and the date categories for Subjects/Built Works and People/Corporate Bodies.
Descriptive Date, Earliest Date, and Latest Date are core categories. Earliest Date, and Latest Date are access points. [1] If there is uncertainty about the precise date, an estimate should be made to the nearest century or span of one hundred years.
Dates which are a single year are recorded in both Earliest Date and Latest Date. Date ranges are recorded by placing the first date of the range in Earliest Date and the second in Latest Date (e.g., Earliest Date 1482 and Latest Date 1487). Retrieval of items by date spans— for example, "all items made between 1914 and 1918''—is as essential as retrieval by precise dates. This capability may be achieved with a variety of data structures. However, in most cases there must be separate categories for Earliest Date and Latest Date to allow for retrieval based on date spans.
Most art-historical expressions of date are not precise. Dates are often given as parts of a century, e.g., "first part of the fifteenth century,'' or "late 18th century.'' In the case of the former the time period can easily be assigned a date range 1500 (Earliest Date) —1524 (Latest Date), but in the latter the period should be broken down into the appropriate third of the century. It is common for dates to be expressed in terms of broad historical periods (e.g., Medieval) and the reigns of monarchs and popes. The parameters of the Victorian period can easily be converted into a date range based on the regnal dates of Queen Victoria. Problems arise, though, with a term like Late Medieval, which has no agreed-on beginning and end dates. Even where a period has no generally agreed-on date span it will be necessary to assign beginning and end dates. Any assigned dates will, inevitably, appear somewhat arbitrary; but given that there are no generally accepted international standards, the best that can be done is to document any date parameters so defined in order to make users of the system aware of the rationale employed. The Descriptive Date category will help to qualify any date range of this type. It can also express doubt, approximations, dates according to alternative calendar systems, regnal dates, or other nuances.
Category:
Descriptive date
Definition:
A description of the date of creation of the group or item(s) to which the entry corresponds. In the case of groups and volumes, the description can refer to span dates and/or bulk dates. Albums may have compilation dates and/or dates of creation of the contents.
Discussion:
This is a display category that allows for the expression of soft or qualified dates, as well as exact dates when known. Explanatory information about dates may be included.
Examples: |
[in a group entry] 1869—1901 inclusive dates, 1876—1886 and 1897—1901 bulk dates. There are no documents dated between August, 1886, and July, 1897. Information penciled on the 1897 box label indicates that "project files for period August, 1886 through July, 1897 were burned and lost in an office fire.''
[in a group entry] 1937—1984 span dates; 1943—1973 bulk dates. |
All descriptive dates may include information about what was done on the dates entered.
Examples: |
ca. 1550—1777, compiled 1789—1796, rebound with additions 1891
[from an entry for an architectural model] 1520–1522 (apse, transepts, and first 5 or 6 bays of nave); 1536 (n. transept façade); 1547 (s. transept façade); 1765–1769 and 1842 (spires and flying buttresses); completed 1888—1890.
designed around 1545—1550, engraved between 1560 and 1586 |
Expression of date may vary according to the level of cataloguing: Inclusive or span dates for groups or volumes are the dates of the earliest and latest dated documents. All other documents in the group or volume are dated between them.
Example: |
[for an album] 17th century (several English and French engravings) to late 18th century (the Dance material) |
Single items may also have span dates, either because they were created over time, or because the date of creation is uncertain.
Examples: |
1872, reworked 1877—1879
1465—1490, probably 1475—1482 |
Bulk dates are applicable only to groups and volumes. These are the dates of the earliest and latest dated documents of any subset(s) taken to be the principal body or bodies of documents. More than one set of bulk dates may be expressed for any group or volume.
Examples: |
1900—1950 inclusive dates; 1914—1918 and 1939—1945 bulk dates |
Terminology:
The following conventions apply to this and other descriptive date categories, such as that for people/corporate bodies.
Specific Dates
Format for Gregorian dates: day in arabic numerals, month in roman numerals, year in arabic numerals. Periods with no spaces around them should separate the three positions. Years should never be abbreviated (e.g., 1890, not 90. Add B.C. for dates before Christ; all other dates are assumed to be A.D.).
Examples: |
23.VII.1984 for the 23rd day of July, 1984
VI.1690 for June, 1690 |
Non-Gregorian dates may be given, but should also be translated into Gregorian dates.
Example: |
il 30 gennaro 1563 (30.I.1564) |
Nonspecific Dates
It is often necessary to soften or qualify a date. This category allows for such expressions by making it possible to record an appropriate phrase or conventional approximation. In all cases, the date should be made an access point using the Earliest Date and Latest Date categories.
Examples: |
Pontificate of Pope Leo X
Victorian period |
Conventions for Creating Date Ranges
Where uncertainty exists and dating with precision is not possible, the following conventions may be used to express the approximate date in the Descriptive Date category. Alongside the conventions are guidelines for translating Descriptive Date into the dates for retrieval, Earliest Date and Latest Date.
Descriptive Date |
Earliest Date/Latest Date Translation |
probably + date |
for fairly certain dates |
ca. |
10 years on either side of a date |
? |
5 years on either side of a date |
fl. |
for People/Corporate Bodies dates: 20 years on either side of a date |
early + century |
the years `01—`29 |
mid + century |
the years `30—`69 |
late + century |
the years `70—00 |
before |
100 years before a date |
after |
100 years after a date |
Implementation:
descriptive
core
single occurrence
Category: Earliest Date
Definition:
The earliest possible date when a group or item was (or could have been) created. If Descriptive Date contains a span (inclusive) date, this category contains only the first date. Bulk dates are excluded from this category.
Discussion:
Both Earliest Date and Latest Date are expressed as years, since months and days are considered too narrow to be of use for retrieval in most cases. Months and days can, however, be recorded in theDescriptive Date category.
Examples: |
Descriptive Date: |
1 brumaire (22 October) 1791 |
Earliest Date: |
1791 |
Latest Date: |
1791 |
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In the above example, the group or item was executed in a single year. Such single year dates should be recorded in both Earliest Date and Latest Date.
The next example demonstrates how a complicated date can be translated for retrieval.
Examples: |
Descriptive Date: |
ca. 1550—1777, compiled 1789—1796, rebound with additions 1891 |
Earliest Date: |
1540 |
Latest Date: |
1891 |
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Note that in the above example the earliest date is not 1550; this is because of the convention that circa should be interpreted as meaning plus or, as in this case, minus 10 years (ca. 1550 would be interpreted to mean 1540—1560). The latest date must include the latest material in the album, even though the bulk dates are ca. 1550—1770. This liberal definition of date span will result in retrieval of irrelevant material in some cases, but in general it is better to retrieve more information than is required than to miss relevant material.
Accordingly, it is recommended that the cataloguer assign the earliest possible date on occasion when the date of execution is uncertain. This broadens the possibilities for retrieval, allowing users to make their own judgments as to the relevance of the information retrieved.
Implementation:
access point
format-controlled: numeric
core
single occurrence
Category: Latest Date
Definition:
The latest possible date when a group or item was (or could have been) created. In an instance when Descriptive Date contains a span (inclusive) date, this category contains only the last date. Bulk dates are excluded.
Discussion:
When the date of execution is uncertain, it is recommended that the cataloguer assign the latest possible date (within reason). This broadens the possibilities for retrieval. Users may then make their own judgments as to the relevance of the information retrieved. For more guidelines, see Earliest Date.
Implementation:
access point
format-controlled: numeric
core
single occurrence
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