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The problem with place

The problem with place. The Moulds may change but the Jelly remains the same. The Jelly. “ what do you do? we foindle and fungle, we bonkle and meigle and maxpoffle, we scotstarvit, armit, wormit, and even whifflet, we play at crosstobs, leuchars, gorbals, and

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The problem with place

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  1. The problem with place The Moulds may change but the Jelly remains the same CILIP/ CIG

  2. The Jelly “what do you do? we foindle and fungle, we bonkle and meigle and maxpoffle, we scotstarvit, armit, wormit, and even whifflet, we play at crosstobs, leuchars, gorbals, and finfan, we scavaig, and there’s aye a bit of tilquhilly, if its wet treshnish and mishnish.” Extract from: Canedolia by Edwin Morgan. CILIP/ CIG

  3. Place types • Physical features • e.g. rivers, mountains etc. • River Spey, Ben Cleuch • Human topography • Man-made physical features, principally inhabited places, but also roads etc • Glasgow, Kylesku, The Slug Road • Conceptual geography • Counties, administrative areas etc • Angus, Strathmiglo parish, Aberdeen Unitary Authority? CILIP/ CIG

  4. Problems with place 1 • Colloquiallism • The essence of a place? • The spoken word v historic textual record • e.g. Glasguae = Glascovia = Cathures = Glascovium = Glascua = Glascuensis = Glascum = Glasqua = Glasquensis CILIP/ CIG

  5. Problems with place 2 • Time • Name changes • e.g. Striveling = Stirling • Name stays the same but geographic coverage changes • Place ceases to exist • Can a place cease to exist? CILIP/ CIG

  6. Problems with place 3 • Language • Translation and back again… • e.g. Callanish = Callanais • Transliteration • Toponymic homonyms • 468 Hoseynabads in Iran! CILIP/ CIG

  7. Examples • Bunnahabhain or Bonavon? • HOYK • Strachan • Ineloid, Ineloid • = Inchina Inchina • Isle of Amron CILIP/ CIG

  8. The (most common) Moulds • Library of Congress Subject Headings. • Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names. • British Museum/Home grown subject headings. CILIP/ CIG

  9. LCSH examples • Place (Qualifier) – Subject – Form • Glasgow (Scotland) - ? – Maps. • Subject – Qualifier – Place • Roads – Scotland – Glasgow CILIP/ CIG

  10. Strengths Widely used Extensively documented Consistent Gathers under most recent place name Easy to use with MARC Weaknesses Non-local heading creation Unweildy headings Not intuitive for user or cataloguer Lack of historical awareness Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) 1 CILIP/ CIG

  11. Opportunities Truly global? Addition of coordinates to authority records Threats Wikipedia as “authority”! Too big – too many users - inconsistent Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) 2 CILIP/ CIG

  12. TGN examples • Hierarchical structure • World – Europe – United Kingdom – Scotland – Glasgow – Unitary Authority. • World – Europe – United Kingdom – Scotland – Glasgow – Glasgow – Inhabited Place. CILIP/ CIG

  13. Strengths Intuitive headings Easy to use Designed for graphic media so suits maps International use in cultural sector Current and historical headings Weaknesses Unfamiliar to library users Long strings can be unweildy Inconsistency between preferences No subject/topic Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN) 1 CILIP/ CIG

  14. Opportunities Partnership working with other cultural institutions Threats Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN) 2 CILIP/ CIG

  15. Local heading examples • Place – Subject – Date– Form • Glasgow – 1878 – Plans • Glasgow – Roads – 1999 - Atlases CILIP/ CIG

  16. Strengths Names in local use Collection specific Continuity with card catalogue General subject access Date of content Weaknesses No authority – self-referencing Inconsistent Unfamiliar to all users Keyword searching in OPAC only – lack of string display British Museum / Home-grown subject headings 1 CILIP/ CIG

  17. Opportunities Easy to add places and topics Simple to use Threats Special fields in LMS Expense Development Lack of support British Museum / Home-grown subject headings 2 CILIP/ CIG

  18. Geo-referencing “The process of delimiting a given object, either physical … or conceptual … in terms of its spatial relationship to the land; the geographic thus established consists of points, lines, areas or volumes defined in terms of some coordinate system.” www.geog.ubc.ca/courses/klink/gisnotes/glossary.html CILIP/ CIG

  19. Subject landscapes • Artefacts with physical locations • Clusters • Maps of subject holdings • Imagined subject themed landscapes CILIP/ CIG

  20. National Library of Scotland • Map Library • 33 Salisbury Place Edinburgh EH9 1SL • 0131 623 3970 • maps@nls.uk CILIP/ CIG

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