Churches
Guideline on supplying metadata for churches.
In general:
Look for street signs, signs on the church, etc. Street signs can be used to establish location. Make sure
that signs on the church match the name of the church used in the caption. Prefer the name of a church
on a sign to the name in the caption. The caption could be wrong. Watch for indications of the
denomination of the church, either in the caption or on signs that might appear in the image. Also
watch for signs where the printing is reversed. You need to report these, and have Special Collections
reverse the scan of the image.
Notes on specific fields
Title:
Use the name of the church as it appears in the caption as the title, except for abbreviations. Spell out
Saint rather than use St. If you discover the caption is incorrect, use the information you have found
instead of the caption.
Ex. In caption: St. James Church
In title: Saint James Church
Caption:
Watch for the name of the church and the denomination in the caption. If you find that the church
name here is incorrect, change the name to the correct one. You will use information on the
denomination in TGM.
Mappable:
Watch for a street location in the caption or street signs.
Description:
Add information you might discover here, such as a specific street address, or the denomination.
Genre:
If the photo is of the exterior of the building, use the term documentary photography. If the building is
one of many in the image, the term cityscapes might be more appropriate.
Location:
Be as specific as you can. If the church is in a known neighborhood in Baltimore, go to that level of
specificity. If the neighborhood does not appear in the controlled vocabulary list, create the heading
based on examples. The neighborhood heading will be added to the list in the approval process.
Ex. United States -- Maryland -- Baltimore -- Bolton Hill
United States -- Maryland -- Baltimore -- Fells Point
Subject names:
Consider the name of the church to be a corporate body. Search Corporate/Conference Names in the
OCLC Authority files for a corporate body that matches the church name. If you do not find it there,
enter the name into the field as it appears in the caption.
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4 Feb 2011 Vicki Sipe
Subject (TGM):
If you do not know the denomination or are not sure, use the TGM term Churches.
If you know the denomination, use the TGM term that includes the denomination. A search in TGM on
churches returns a long list of terms such as Protestant churches and Episcopal churches. Look for a
term that matches the denomination of the church and use it.
If you use a term that includes a denomination, do not also use the term Churches, as it is a broader
term. A broader term would not be at the level of specificity of the image.
The term Buildings would also be inappropriate, as the Scope note illustrates.
Scope Note:
For buildings in general; includes buildings with indeterminate functions and buildings
distinguished by attributes other than function.
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4 Feb 2011 Vicki Sipe