Getty Vocabulary Program
Encyclopedia
The Getty Vocabulary Program is a department within the Getty Research Institute
at the Getty Center
in Los Angeles, California
. It produces and maintains the Getty controlled vocabulary
databases, Art and Architecture Thesaurus, Union List of Artist Names
, and Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
. They are compliant with ISO and NISO standards for thesaurus construction. The Getty vocabularies are the premiere references for categorizing works of art, architecture, material culture, and the names of artists, architects, and geographic names. They have been the life work of many people and continue to be critical contributions to cultural heritage information management and documentation. They contain terms, names, and other information about people, places, things, and concepts relating to art, architecture, and material culture. They can be accessed online free of charge on the Getty website.
The Getty Vocabulary Program has been active within the library community, offering training on thesaurus construction and training on contributing via Getty online webforms. These opportunities are held during annual conferences of organizations such as Art Libraries Society of North America
(ARLIS), Visual Resources Association
(VRA), American Library Association
(ALA), International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
(IFLA), NFAIS
, Society of American Archivists
(SAA), and Museum Computer Network
(MCN).
Since 1998, Getty Information Technology Services and Web Services have worked closely with the Getty Vocabulary Program to conceive, develop, deploy, and continuously enhance the technologies necessary to support the growth and usage of the vocabulary databases. Three major projects comprise the work completed to date. First, the Vocabulary Coordination System (VCS) project created a single production system that replaced three separate, outdated and disparate data collection and editorial systems that had been used to produce the three vocabularies. The new, more powerful production engine allows Getty staff to efficiently collect, analyze, edit, merge and distribute terminology from Getty departments, as well as from external collaborating institutions. Second, the Vocabularies on the Web project produced unified Web-based access to the three Getty vocabularies and made them available to hundreds of thousands of researchers, scholars, and members of the general public who are interested in the subject areas covered by the vocabularies. This project also enhanced security to protect the Getty’s intellectual property, and added measurement metrics to allow the Getty to gauge the usage volume, usage patterns, and the success of these efforts. Finally, the Vocabulary Contributions project created processes and procedures for making use of and contributing to the vocabulary databases an integral part of the work in all relevant Getty and external projects.
In 2000, the Getty Vocabulary Program was moved from its Santa Monica office to its current location within the Getty Research Institute
at the Getty Center
.
Honors for 2007 in the category of Media Arts and Entertainment for Web-Based Global Art Resources.
Getty Research Institute
The Getty Research Institute , located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts". A program of the J...
at the Getty Center
Getty Center
The Getty Center, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, is a campus for cultural institutions founded by oilman J. Paul Getty. The $1.3 billion center, which opened on December 16, 1997, is also well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. It produces and maintains the Getty controlled vocabulary
Controlled vocabulary
Controlled vocabularies provide a way to organize knowledge for subsequent retrieval. They are used in subject indexing schemes, subject headings, thesauri, taxonomies and other form of knowledge organization systems...
databases, Art and Architecture Thesaurus, Union List of Artist Names
Union List of Artist Names
The Union List of Artist Names is a controlled vocabulary currently containing around 293,000 names and other information about artists. Names in ULAN may include given names, pseudonyms, variant spellings, names in multiple languages, and names that have changed over time...
, and Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names is a product of the J. Paul Getty Trust included in the Getty Vocabulary Program. The TGN includes names and associated information about places. Places in TGN include administrative political entities and physical features . Current and historical places...
. They are compliant with ISO and NISO standards for thesaurus construction. The Getty vocabularies are the premiere references for categorizing works of art, architecture, material culture, and the names of artists, architects, and geographic names. They have been the life work of many people and continue to be critical contributions to cultural heritage information management and documentation. They contain terms, names, and other information about people, places, things, and concepts relating to art, architecture, and material culture. They can be accessed online free of charge on the Getty website.
Usage
The Getty vocabularies can be used in three ways: at the data entry stage, by catalogers or indexers who are describing works of art, architecture, material culture, archival materials, visual surrogates, or bibliographic materials; as knowledge bases, providing information for researchers; and as search assistants to enhance end-user access to online resources. The Getty vocabularies are available in MARC format for easy mapping.The Getty Vocabulary Program has been active within the library community, offering training on thesaurus construction and training on contributing via Getty online webforms. These opportunities are held during annual conferences of organizations such as Art Libraries Society of North America
Art Libraries Society of North America
The was founded in 1972. It is an organization made up of approximately 1,000 art librarians, library students and visual resource professionals.-Mission:...
(ARLIS), Visual Resources Association
Visual Resources Association
The Visual Resources Association is an international organization for image media professionals,VRA was founded in 1982 by slide librarians who were members of the College Art Association , the South Eastern Art Conference , the Art Libraries Society of North America , and the Mid-America College...
(VRA), American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
(ALA), International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions is the leading international association of library organisations. It is the global voice of the library and information profession, and its annual conference provides a venue for librarians to learn from one another...
(IFLA), NFAIS
NFAIS
National Federation of Advanced Information Services is a United States non-profit institutional membership organization of content and technology providers, specifically those that support the authoritative information needs and activities of professionals across a spectrum of scholarly...
, Society of American Archivists
Society of American Archivists
The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual and institutional members...
(SAA), and Museum Computer Network
Museum Computer Network
The Museum Computer Network is a US-based non-profit organization for professionals with an interest in the use of computer technology for museums. It runs an annual conference, the MCN-L discussion forum, special interest groups, an online directory of museum websites, etc. Members include...
(MCN).
History
Editorial work has been managed by the Getty since 1983. In 1987 the Getty created a department dedicated to compiling and distributing terminology called the Vocabulary Coordination Group, now known as the Getty Vocabulary Program, which was within the Getty Information Institute. The data is compiled and edited in an editorial system that was custom-built by Getty technical staff to meet the unique requirements of compiling data from many contributors, building complex and changing polyhierarchies, merging, moving, and publishing in various formats. Final editorial control of the Vocabularies are maintained by the Getty Vocabulary Program, using well-established editorial rules. They are now published in automated formats only, in both a searchable online Web interface and in data files available for licensing.Since 1998, Getty Information Technology Services and Web Services have worked closely with the Getty Vocabulary Program to conceive, develop, deploy, and continuously enhance the technologies necessary to support the growth and usage of the vocabulary databases. Three major projects comprise the work completed to date. First, the Vocabulary Coordination System (VCS) project created a single production system that replaced three separate, outdated and disparate data collection and editorial systems that had been used to produce the three vocabularies. The new, more powerful production engine allows Getty staff to efficiently collect, analyze, edit, merge and distribute terminology from Getty departments, as well as from external collaborating institutions. Second, the Vocabularies on the Web project produced unified Web-based access to the three Getty vocabularies and made them available to hundreds of thousands of researchers, scholars, and members of the general public who are interested in the subject areas covered by the vocabularies. This project also enhanced security to protect the Getty’s intellectual property, and added measurement metrics to allow the Getty to gauge the usage volume, usage patterns, and the success of these efforts. Finally, the Vocabulary Contributions project created processes and procedures for making use of and contributing to the vocabulary databases an integral part of the work in all relevant Getty and external projects.
In 2000, the Getty Vocabulary Program was moved from its Santa Monica office to its current location within the Getty Research Institute
Getty Research Institute
The Getty Research Institute , located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts". A program of the J...
at the Getty Center
Getty Center
The Getty Center, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, is a campus for cultural institutions founded by oilman J. Paul Getty. The $1.3 billion center, which opened on December 16, 1997, is also well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles...
.
Awards and recognition
The Getty Vocabulary Program won the ComputerworldComputerworld
Computerworld is an IT magazine that provides information for senior IT leaders. It is published in many countries around the world under the same or similar names. Its publisher is International Data Group. Computerworld serves the needs of IT management via print and online...
Honors for 2007 in the category of Media Arts and Entertainment for Web-Based Global Art Resources.
Organizations that cite or use the Getty Vocabularies
- Intute Intute: Arts and Humanities
- Canadian Heritage CHIN Standards Organizations
- Library of Congress LC Authority Files
- Museum Computer Network (MCN) in Taiwan Taiwan e-Learning and Digital Archives Program (TELDAP)
- ICOM-CIDOC The International Committee for Documentation of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-CIDOC)
- The Frick Collection Frick Art Reference Library: Electronic Resources
- University of Sydney USYD Library: Museum Studies Internet Resources
See also
- Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)
- Union List of Artist NamesUnion List of Artist NamesThe Union List of Artist Names is a controlled vocabulary currently containing around 293,000 names and other information about artists. Names in ULAN may include given names, pseudonyms, variant spellings, names in multiple languages, and names that have changed over time...
(ULAN) - Getty Thesaurus of Geographic NamesGetty Thesaurus of Geographic NamesThe Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names is a product of the J. Paul Getty Trust included in the Getty Vocabulary Program. The TGN includes names and associated information about places. Places in TGN include administrative political entities and physical features . Current and historical places...
(TGN)
External links
- Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology ASIS&T Bulletin vo. 30, no. 5 (2004)
- Getty Information Institute Retrospective D-Lib Magazine, vol. 5, no. 3 (1999)
- Art & Architecture Thesaurus Online Search the AAT online for free.
- Union List of Artist Names Online Search the ULAN online for free.
- Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names Online Search the TGN online for free.
- Learn About the Getty Vocabularies
- Getty Vocabulary Editorial Guidelines The editorial guidelines for the AAT, ULAN, and TGN contain rules and guidelines intended for use by the editors of the Getty Vocabulary Program using the in-house editorial system, VCS (Vocabulary Coordination System). Contributors to the Getty Vocabularies and implementers of the licensed vocabulary data may consult these guidelines as well.
- Training materials and presentations created by the Getty Vocabulary Program The documents on this page include presentations and other training materials for the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN), the Union List of Artist Names (ULAN), the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), Cataloging Cultural Objects (CCO), Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA), and standards in general.