• ID.LOC.GOV Library of Congress Linked Data Service. Search across many authorities. No login required.
• Art and Architecture Thesaurus | Genre list
• Virtual International Name Authority File
• MARC Relator and Role terms
• MARC state and country authorized names (mixed together)
• MARC geographic regions authorized names (e.g. Europe, Australasia, Developing countries)
• Common AAT Terms
• Library of Congress Name Authority File (Classification Web) | also use for geographic names in subjects. Login required.
• Library of Congress Subject. Login required. Authority File (Classification Web) | Subject list. Great for free-floating subdivisions. Login required: username=umassa; password=75238524

• Digital Sample Book Compare different photographic processes
• Historic timeline of photographic processes .jpg
• Graphics Atlas | Photographic processes information.
• Political Graveyard | For names of politicians large and small.
• Massachusetts Historical Society| Includes a list of known Massachusetts photographers and their addresses.
• Langdon Road | List of 19th & Early 20th Century Photographers
• Vintage Car List| If you know the make and model of a car in a photo it may help pinpoint a range of years.
• Architecture and details dictionary

• identifying albumen prints – most common 19th century photo paper
• identifying gelatin silver prints – most common black and white 20th century photo paper
• other print types

• 3 x 5 in.
• 4 x 6 in.
• 5 x 7 in.
• 8 x 10 in.

Organization

• You can save a set of tabs in your browser and open them with one click. Bookmark websites to a folder. Open the bookmark manager or library. Right-click on a folder and select “Open all in tabs”.
• Make sure to set up your Oxygen with the settings listed on this page
• Save every time you edit any local authority file you create – save after every little change so that it updates when others are working at the same time.

Creation

• If an incoming letter mentions an enclosure but it is not present in the folder, make a note in the abstract: Enclosure not with letter.
• Mention any handwritten notes or corrections on documents in the abstract, except for filing instructions at the tops of documents (General, Personal, name of client).
• Include spaces after the period for initials in names (e.g. W. E. B. Du Bois - correct, W.E.B. Du Bois - wrong).
• If you come across a stack of form letters (same content) addressed to many people, catalog those as one record with title “Letter from XXX to multiple recipients”. Based on interest of content and amount of names, make a decision on whether to include recipients' names in the abstract. Add genre term “form letters”.
• Names or words with diacritics need to be encoded. Use the Oxygen character map (under the Edit menu) to look up the code that properly inserts the accented character. Use the “decimal” (not hexidecimal) code. To make sure it is searchable in Credo, use the plain text version in the abstract. Example: Pelé in title and name elements and Pele in abstract.
• For royal/titled names that are in LOC Name Authority, it's a good idea to check the MARC format to see how LOC has parsed the name elements. Example: “Wellington, Charles Wellsely, Duke of, 1945-” (LOC). Title: “Letter from XXX to Charles Wellsely, Duke of Wellington”
  • MODS Name as:
    <name type=“personal”>
    <namePart type=“family”>Wellington</namePart>
    <namePart type=“given”>Charles Wellsely</namePart>
    <namePart type=“termsOfAddress”>Duke of</namePart>
    <namePart type=“date”>1945-</namePart>
    </name>

Mods/Credo rules

• <mods:name>
  • Make sure there is always an authority: NAF or local
• <mods:dateCreated>
  • For items with a date range, create two <mods:dateCreated> entries, one for each part of the date range. Add point=“start” to the first entry and point=“end” in the second entry.
  • There can only be one keyDate=“yes” attribute for dates. So for entries with a date range, the keyDate attribute should appear on the earliest entry (e.g. <mods:dateCreated keyDate=“yes” encoding=“w3cdtf” point=“start”>1967-07</mods:dateCreated><mods:dateCreated encoding=“w3cdtf” point=“end”>1967-08</mods:dateCreated>. This rule also applies if you have a <mods:dateIssued> element as well.
• <mods:title>
  • Do not use double quotes (“) in titles – the system will screw them up. Use single quotes (') instead.

More FAQs on cataloging

• Danielle's power point presentation on metadata
• SCUA MODS Best Practices | Current version
• Library of Congress MODS User Guidelines
• Digital Library Foundation MODS Guidelines