In deciding on a methodology for subject access, the CU Historical Clock Society began by investigating commonly used controlled vocabularies, such as Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and the Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus® (AAT). LCSH, because it is primarily intended for print materials, does a poor job of handling the specifics of realia and art objects in general, and clock in particular. Getty’s AAT does provide a much better framework for providing subject access for objects like those in our collection. However, our plan for subject access is to create our own controlled vocabulary centered on clocks. We believe that this will provide the best structure for us to include subject access that is tailored to our user’s interests, needs, and vocabularies.
Although we will not be exactly using the Getty AAT vocabulary, the AAT does provide a helpful springboard when considering how to structure our vocabulary. AAT uses subcategories like <clocks by form>, <clocks by function> and <clocks by movement> to help subdivide their heading of “clocks.”1 Since our highest value in the vocabulary’s hierarchy will be clocks, it makes sense to develop a controlled vocabulary to help specify further the clocks in our collection. The clocks will be categorized by type (i.e. wall, case, etc.). This will correspond to the Getty’s <clocks by form> category. Our controlled vocabulary will pull from resources such as Horology—The Index, an online index developed by the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors to develop a vocabulary common to those interested in clocks.2 Because many clock collectors and preservers are particularly interested in a clock’s inner workings, the vocabulary will also use index terms that describe the clocks and their parts, mechanisms, and movement from a clock maker’s or collector’s point of view. We will develop this vocabulary using text resource that provide detailed description of clock types and clock parts, such as The Mechanics of Mechanical Watches and Clocks.3 This will allow us to provide those interested in this kind of semi-technical information access to the specific kinds of clocks they are interested in seeing.
Because our anticipated users also include clock novices who are interested in local history, the clocks will be classified and indexed by location to help users who know the location but not necessarily the type of clock. However, we do not anticipate including this facet in our controlled vocabulary, but rather intend to provide another option for subject access: user-generated tags. By inviting users to tag the clocks, local history enthusiasts can become an active part of the collection.
Our tagging framework will likely be built on the work of steve.museum, an open-source tagging software developed by art museums and museum professionals to explore the use of user-generated tags in art museum object records. Although our collection does not contain objects typical to an art museum, steve does provide the best current framework for understanding tags for providing subject access to realia and curated objects. Not only can tags provide access by allowing users to identify objects with terminology they find appropriate for each item, but, according to J. Trant, “Just as search terms are a direct trace of a trajectory of interest, so too can tags offer a window into the objects that engage users.”4 In other words, tags can also become a way of helping us provide even better subject access by finding those points that engage users with our unique collection.
These tags can be added that help history enthusiasts locate clocks that will be of interest to them, possibly by adding notes to the historical significance of the clock, or physical descriptions that make the clock unique. Since tagging is a subjective experience, we anticipate finding tags that describe the clocks in the collection in ways that a controlled vocabulary would not anticipate—using terms such as “ornate,” for example—and that don’t describe the “aboutness” of each clock so much as the experience of viewing it. We will likely have some “starter” tags so this section isn’t entirely empty, encouraging people to tag on their own. Because location is a point of access we wish to incorporate, but do not anticipate including in our controlled vocabulary, these “starter” tags could include location terms.
1. “Art & Architecture Thesaurus,” Getty Research Institute, accessed December 5, 2012, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/aat/, path: search “clocks.”
2. “Horology–The Index,” National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, accessed December 5, 2012, http://www.nawcc-index.net.
3. Du Ruxu and Xie Longhan, The Mechanics of Mechanical Watches and Clocks (Berlin: Springer, 2013).
4. J. Trant, “Tagging, Folksonomies, and Art Museums: Early Experiments and Ongoing Research,” Journal of Digital Information 10.1 (2009): 35.