Librarian cornered by images or

How to index visual resources

Wanda Klenczon, Paweł RygielThe National Library of Poland

IFLA Satellite Post-ConferenceBeyond libraries – subject metadata in the digital environment and semantic web

17-18 August 2012, Tallinn

„Images, that have interfered in the human life and human civilizations, still evade all attempts at being classified or standardized. If they constitute a language, it is deprived of the established vocabulary and syntax;

if they build a system, it is an extremely mutable system, where nothing is identically repeated”.

Mieczysław Porębski, Ikonosfera, Warszawa 1972, s. 9.

Descriptive metadata

• object name, • creator, • dating, culture, epoch or art movement,• formal aspects of the object

– medium, technique, material…

• category or type of document etc.

but only subject description really involves transforming visual code into written code.

What does it mean

“subject of an image”?

Pre-iconographic

woman, animal, jewelry

Iconographic Cecilia Gallerani, ermine, necklace

Iconological beauty, purity, aristocracy

Source: L. H. Armitage, P. G. B. Enser: Analysis of user need in image archives. “Journal of Information Science”, 1997, 23(4), pp. 287–299.

Panofsky/Shatford matrix

Pre-iconography(Generics)

Iconography(Specifics)

Iconology(Abstracts)

Who? kind of person or thing (G1)

individually named person, group, thing (S1)

mythical or fictitious being (A1)

What? kind of event, action, condition (G2)

individually named event, action (S2)

emotion or abstraction (A2)

Where? kind of place: geographical, architectural (G3)

individually named geographical location

(S3)

place symbolized

(A3)

When? cyclical time: season, time of day (G4)

linear time: date or period (S4)

emotion, abstraction symbolized by time (A4)

Isness, ofness, aboutness• Isness = what the resource IS

often is close to genre/form terms (may be physical or intrinsic, e. g. drawing, albumen print, poster, etc.)

• Ofness = the elements that a picture consists OF

• Aboutness = what is conveyed in a document, what it is ABOUT

depends on the interpretation of the set themes, motifs, actions and events in a work

Source: Wikimedia CommonsPicture by de:Benutzer:Fb78. License: {{cc-by-sa-2.0-de}}

IS sculpture

OF Man, boys, snakes, Laookon

ABOUT God’s revenge, punishment of sacrilege,combat, pain, agony

Source: http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/~jenlrile/metadatamap/

Seeing Standards: Visualization of the Metadata Universe

Source: http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/~jenlrile/metadatamap/

Metadata standards and cataloging rules(examples)

• Cataloging Cultural Objects (CCO)

• Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA)

• CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CIDOC CRM)

• International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD)

• Dublin Core (DC)

• MARC Standards

• ….

Indexing tools (examples)

• Getty Vocabulaires: – Union List of Artist Names (ULAN)– Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN) – Cultural Objects Name Authority (CONA)– Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)

• Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM)• Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) • Répertoire d'autorité-matière encyclopédique et

alphabétique unifié (RAMEAU)• Iconclass• ….

NAMES

SUBJECT

245 00 |a Harris, Beebe & Co.: The Pocahontas Chewing Tobacco |h [graphic]/ |c The Hatch Lith. Co. N.Y.

520 0_ |a Tobacco package label depicting Pocahontas posed in nature.

600 20 |a Pocahontas, |d d. 1617.

650 _4 |a Indians of North America |x Performances & portrayals |y 1860-1870.

655 _7 |a Tobacco package labels |y 1860-1870. |2 gmgpc

655 _7 |a Chromolithographs |x Color |y 1860-1870. |2 gmgpc

LCSH

TGM

Not specified

245 10 |a Battle of New Orleans and death of Major General Packenham [sic] on the 8th of January 1815 |h [graphic] / |c West del. ; J. Yeager sc.

520 0_ |a Print shows the Battle of New Orleans from the British perspective, as British forces advance upon the earthworks or barricades from which the American forces, under the command of Andrew Jackson, repel the attack. Includes a head-and-shoulders portrait of Andrew Jackson, facing slightly left, with American flags and various weapons, appears below the battle scene. Prominent figures are identified by letter within the print and a corresponding key that is printed below the image, to the left and right of the title. In this print, Major General Lambert is depicted without the cloth or handkerchief that obscures his face.

600 14 |a Jackson, Andrew, |d 1767-1845 |x Military service.

600 14 |a Pakenham, Edward Michael, |d 1778-1815 |x Death & burial |z Louisiana |z New Orleans.

650 _0 |a New Orleans, Battle of, New Orleans, La., 1815.

650 _7 |a Campaigns & battles |z Louisiana |z New Orleans |y 1810-1820. |2 lctgm

651 _4 |a United States |x History |y War of 1812 |x Casualties |x British.

651 _4 |a United States |x History |y War of 1812 |x Campaigns & battles.

655 _7 |a Keys (Legends) |y 1810-1820. |2 gmgpc

655 _7 |a Remarques |y 1810-1820. |2 gmgpc

655 _7 |a Engravings |y 1810-1820. |2 gmgpcTGM

Not specified

LCSH

245 10 |a [Exterior view of fish market with several people, shoppers and merchant(?), holding fish, also a porter with large bundle on his back, and a woman playing a shamisen] |h [graphic].

650 _7 |a Shopping |z Japan |y 1860-1880. |2 lctgm

650 _7 |a Fishmongers |z Japan |y 1860-1880. |2 lctgm

650 _7 |a Stores & shops |z Japan |y 1860-1880. |2 lctgm

650 _7 |a Merchandise displays |z Japan |y 1860-1880. |2 lctgm

650 _7 |a Porters |z Japan |y 1860-1880. |2 lctgm

650 _7 |a Street musicians |z Japan |y 1860-1880. |2 lctgm

650 _7 |a City & town life |z Japan |y 1860-1880. |2 lctgm

655 _7 |a Book illustrations |y 1870-1880. |2 gmgpc

655 _7 |a Albumen prints |x Hand-colored |y 1870-1880. |2 gmgpc

TGM

24510 |a Wild animal display in Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota |h [graphic].

653__ |a Dead animals. |a Mounted animal. |a Wall Drug. |a Hunting. |a Hunter. |a Kill. |a America.

655_7 |a Digital photographs |x Color |y 2000-2010. |2 gmgpcTGM

uncontrolled

TGM

1001_ |a Roberti, Ercole de', |d d. 1496, |e artist, |e attributed name.

24510 |a [Sketches for Christ taken prisoner; Judas kiss] |h [graphic].

655_7 |a Ink drawings |x Italian |y 1473-1496. |2 gmgpc

Images digitization in Poland

Images cataloging in Poland

• MARC21 Bibliographic – adaption for still images (libraries)

• ISBD (libraries)

• Dublin Core (most of cultural heritage institutions)

• CCO

• indexing tools and practices vary from institution to another

Basket of Fruit (c.1599) Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana

Italian painting

Oil on canvas

Still life

Fruits

Wicker basket

applepeach

figs

grapes

insect-predated fruits

Archips argyospita

etc., etc…

Eating and drinking spaces

IS,OF, ABOUT to MARC 21 mapping(proposal)

IS

•245 title•655 genre/form term

OF

•245 title•520 note•653 additional subject access point

ABOUT

•245 title•520 note•600-651 subject term

Image description – NL of Poland

• 600-651 subject terms (controlled vocabulary)• overall scope of the document

• 655 genre/form terms (controlled vocabulary)• type of document, technique, object genre

• 653 additional subject access points (both controlled and uncontrolled terms)• secondary, subordinated or less important content elements

• 520 note/summary (free-text)• meaning, purpose or function

Odwieziony we śnie na Itakę / Stanisław Hiszpański

520 Odysseus, fast asleep in a hidden harbor on Ithaka. Athena is keeping vigil over him. In background the sea and an ship, probably Phaeacian.

600 Odysseus

653 Homerus. Odusseia; Athena; Ithaka; sea; ship; harbor; man asleep; Greek mythology; Greek goddesse; gorgoneion

655 Illustration655 Watercolour 655 Coloured drawing

Haquet et traîneau de brasseur / Jean Victor Adam

520 This print is probably a part of a larger series entitled 'Voitures'. At center of composition, a brewer's dray and sledge loaded with barrels; at right, in front of a café with an awning, a man on horseback and a man holding a barrel; beyond at left, buildings and a small crowd of soldiers;

653 road; horses; coffeehouse; barrel; delivery; awning; carriage

655 Genre scene655 Lithograph655 Print

[Bukiet kwiatów] / Helena Drzewiecka

650 Flowers

653 pansy; iris; lily; ancolie; rose; bouquet

655 Gouache655 Painting

… doomed failure?

„What we really expect in a work of art is a certain personal element – we expect artist to have, if not a distinguished mind, at least a distinguished sensibility. We expect him to reveal something to us that is original – a unique and private vision of the world.”

Herbert Read, Meaning of Art, London 1968, p. 27

Thank you for your attention!

Wanda Klenczonw.klenczon@bn.org.pl

Paweł Rygielp.rygiel@bn.org.pl