This section explains the general cataloging guidelines\r\n followed by the Prints and Photographs Division as well as\r\n specific guidelines used for the National Child Labor\r\n Committee (NCLC) Collection photographs.
\r\n\r\nFor background information about cataloging pictorial\r\n materials, see the\r\n tools section of the \"Visual Materials: Processing &\r\n Cataloging Bibliography.\"
\r\n\r\nMost Prints & Photographs Division catalog records\r\n rely on information that accompanied the picture when it\r\n came to the Library of Congress rather than what could be\r\n learned by fully researching the images. Such original\r\n accompanying information is sometimes inaccurate. The\r\n Division appreciates hearing from researchers who have\r\n additional or better information. Contact the Prints and\r\n Photographs Reading Room through its Ask a\r\n Librarian service.
\r\n\r\nThe titles of the photographs come from\r\n caption cards that the Library of Congress received from\r\n the National Child Labor Committee with the rest of the\r\n collection (see the the Photo Captions section of the\r\n \"Background and Scope\" page for information about the\r\n caption cards). The abbreviation \"[sic]\" indicates a\r\n misspelling; corrected spellings appear in brackets, where\r\n possible, preceded by the abbreviation [i.e.] (sometimes\r\n missing letters are simply inserted in brackets). Some\r\n capitalization, punctuation, and spacing was altered when\r\n necessary to make the information clear or to improve\r\n retreival.
\r\n\r\nExamples:
\r\n\r\nWhen multiple versions of the same\r\n image are available (usually a negative and a print), both\r\n versions are described in a single catalog record to\r\n facilitate comparison of what was captured through the\r\n camera and what the NCLC printed in the darkroom.\r\n Photographic prints in the collection (more than 5,100)\r\n vastly outnumber the glass negatives (ca. 325).
\r\n\r\nMany kinds of reproduction numbers are\r\n included because different versions of the image may have\r\n been copied in different formats--digital, photographic,\r\n black-and-white, color.
\r\n\r\nExamples:
\r\n
Call Number | Card\r\n # | Collection (Part of) | Creator | Created/Published,\r\n Date | Digital ID | Format | Meduim | Notes | Related Names |
The NCLC prints came to the Library in\r\n twenty-one albums that Library staff then clustered into\r\n nine groups (called LOTs) by subject matter. Each LOT\r\n consists of one or more albums. The LOTs bear numbers\r\n 7475-7483. Within each LOT, the prints bear a volume number\r\n followed by an item number assigned while the material was\r\n still at the National Child Labor Committee. Staff added\r\n zeros to the item numbers, where necessary, to fill them\r\n out to four digits, for purposes of better sorting. Item\r\n numbers are unique--the same number does not appear in\r\n different LOTs except in rare cases where copies of the\r\n same photo were placed in two different groupings by the\r\n NCLC. (For further information on the arrangement of the\r\n original materials, see \"Arrangement and Access.\")
\r\n\r\nExample:
\r\n\r\n
\r\n The Library of Congress assigned the\r\n negatives to two filing series, coded \"H\"\r\n for the surname Hine. \"LC-H5\" designates 5x7-inch negatives\r\n and \"LC-H51\" designates 4x5-inch negatives. The rest of the\r\n call number consists of the number the NCLC assigned to the\r\n item. Occasionally, the NCLC used \"A, \"B,\" and \"C,\"\r\n suffixes to distinguish items with otherwise identical\r\n numbers.
Examples:
\r\n\r\nGeneral practice
\r\n\r\nThe call number is a string of letters and numbers used\r\n to locate the original material at the Library of Congress.\r\n The Prints and Photographs Division has a unique system of\r\n local call numbers, and the patterns vary from collection\r\n to collection. The common call number elements include: a\r\n coded collection designation (called a \"filing series\"), an\r\n alphabetic or numeric subdivision category, and an item\r\n number. For reference citations, researchers should note\r\n the whole call number, not just the item number.
\r\n\r\nEach catalog record has a unique identification number\r\n called a \"card number\" or \"control number.\" Researchers can\r\n use the card number to do a quick number search and\r\n retrieve a specific record without repeating a long keyword\r\n or subject search.
\r\n\r\nExamples:
\r\n\r\nThe title of the collection associates each item with\r\n its source and with other pictures in the same collection.\r\n This title is useful to include in bibliographic citations\r\n as a provenance statement.
\r\n\r\nExample:
\r\n\r\nSome items are in more than one collection because they\r\n are associated with both a format-based collection (e.g.,\r\n Daguerreotype Collection) and a donor-based collection\r\n (e.g., Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection). Other items\r\n lack a formal collection title heading because the\r\n collections have not yet been fully cataloged.
\r\n\r\nThe name of an artist, photographer, architect,\r\n printmaker, or other image creator appears in this\r\n category. For unidentified creators, the category is blank.\r\n Only one form of the name is used, so that it is possible\r\n to retrieve all of a creator's works under a single\r\n spelling or expression. Birth and death dates appear only\r\n when such information was readily available when the\r\n heading was established. When a name is established while\r\n the creator is alive, a death date is not usually added\r\n when the creator dies. Many of the creator names come from\r\n the Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF), which\r\n has cross references for alternative versions and some\r\n biographical details. The LCNAF is available online at
The Library has attributed all the photographs in the\r\n National Child Labor Committee Collection to Lewis Hine\r\n unless the caption card explicitly identified another\r\n photographer. Many of the cards identify Hine as the\r\n photographer. The appearance of Hine's name in the title\r\n area identifies these clear credit situations (see Title and Statement of Reponsibility). On\r\n other cards the credit isn't legible or is absent. The note\r\n \"Attribution to Hine based on provenance\" explains the\r\n source of the attribution for these ambiguous\r\n situations.
\r\n\r\nAfter the name, a relator term identifies the\r\n relationship(s) between the name and the work being\r\n cataloged: for example, architect, artist, copyright\r\n claimant, photographer, or publisher.
\r\n\r\nExamples:
\r\n\r\nDates for NCLC photos
\r\n\r\nThe records cite the date that appears on the caption\r\n card, whenever there is one. In some cases, no date appears\r\n on the card. In such cases, staff estimated the date on the\r\n basis of dates given in captions for related images,\r\n enclosing the date in brackets and noting the source of the\r\n estimate in a note.
\r\n\r\nExamples:
\r\n\r\nGeneral practice
\r\n\r\nThis category refers to the place, publisher, and\r\n year(s) for a picture's creation.
\r\n\r\nOnly the date appears for unpublished\r\n pictures. For photographs, creation and depiction dates are\r\n usually the same, and the date field may be the only place\r\n where the date information is displayed. The time period\r\n depicted in a picture may be conveyed through notes and\r\n subject-heading subdivision areas, especially for prints\r\n and drawings showing events that happened long before the\r\n artist portrayed them.
\r\n\r\nThe date is transcribed when such information appears\r\n with the picture. It can be difficult to assign a specific\r\n year to undated prints and photographs. The catalogers look\r\n for clues such as the creator's life dates and type of\r\n physical media. Often, only a span of years or decades can\r\n be estimated, and such dates are shown in brackets.
\r\n\r\nWhen the single letter \"c\" appears before a date, it\r\n indicates the year in which an image was deposited for\r\n copyright.
\r\n\r\nThe abbreviation \"ca.\" means \"circa\" and indicates a\r\n date that is approximate to within five years before or\r\n after the stated year.
\r\n\r\nThis category begins with a word or phrase that explains\r\n the source used to create the digital image: for example,\r\n the \"original\" work or a \"b&w copy film neg.\" The\r\n Library's digital images are often created by scanning one\r\n or more of the copy negatives, slides, or transparencies\r\n listed in the Reproduction Number field. The Library uses a\r\n brief file identifier for its locally programmed image\r\n displays. The URL (http) identifier is provided to aid\r\n display of images in other environments.
\r\n\r\nExample:
\r\n\r\nThe genre and physical characteristics of the original\r\n work are listed as plural index terms. Examples include:\r\n Broadsides, Engravings, Group portraits,\r\n Lithographs--Color, Paintings--Reproductions, Political\r\n posters, Portrait photographs, Stereographs, and\r\n Woodcuts.
\r\n\r\nThese headings are sometimes subdivided by the\r\n nationality, place, or decade in which the work was\r\n created. Other subdivisions indicate whether or not the\r\n work is in color or is a reproduction of another medium.\r\n The terms come from the Thesaurus for\r\n Graphic Materials II: Genre and Physical Characteristic\r\n Terms.
\r\n\r\nExamples:
\r\n\r\nThis category begins with a readily recognized object\r\n type, such as photograph, drawing, or print, followed by a\r\n more specific designation, such as daguerreotype, charcoal,\r\n or aquatint. Staff determine the medium by examining the\r\n original work. This physical description helps remind\r\n viewers that the physical characteristics of the original\r\n work are quite different from the digital reproduction on a\r\n computer screen.
\r\n\r\nThe quantity of material is also stated, although most\r\n records usually describe only a single item. Some records,\r\n however, describe tens or hundreds of items, and it is\r\n helpful to know the extent of each work to understand the\r\n specificity of the information in the catalog record.
\r\n\r\nThe dimensions of a work are rarely provided unless the\r\n same dimension applies to many items.
\r\n\r\nExamples:
\r\n\r\nMany types of notes are written to explain publication\r\n rights status or restrictions, sources of devised dates and\r\n titles, acquisition source, related material, the name of\r\n the collection to which the work belongs, citations to\r\n published versions, and other aspects of the work. A\r\n subject description, displayed as the SUMMARY note, may be\r\n written, especially if a title is not self-explanatory.
\r\n\r\nFor the NCLC photographs, the notes include rights\r\n information, the source of the title, the basis for the\r\n CREATOR attribution, the title of the album in which the\r\n print is found, the Hine number (the item number assigned\r\n at NCLC), and the collection name. The notes also quote any\r\n information from the caption card that was not title\r\n information. Most common among these was \"Negative\r\n destroyed,\" which was penned across many cards. Library\r\n staff are not sure who recorded these notes on the cards or\r\n when. They may refer to nitrate negatives that the NCLC\r\n offered the Library but that the Library did not acquire\r\n with the collection.
\r\n\r\nExamples:
\r\n\r\nWhen multiple individuals or corporate bodies contribute\r\n to a work, their names can be listed as related (also\r\n called added) entries. A relator term, such as \"client,\"\r\n \"copyright claimant,\" \"interior designer,\" or \"sculptor,\"\r\n appears after the name when the nature of the contribution\r\n is known.
\r\n\r\nExplicitly stating the name of the library that owns the\r\n work helps users locate and cite items. The Library of\r\n Congress is so large that the custodial division is also\r\n identified.
\r\n\r\nExample:
\r\n\r\nThis alpha-numeric code identifies existing\r\n black-and-white and color negatives, slides,\r\n transparencies, and digital files from which prints,\r\n transparencies, and other photographic reproductions can be\r\n ordered. This number is also the most useful (and shortest)\r\n reference citation to include with any subsequent\r\n publication of the image.
\r\n\r\nA qualifying phrase identifies the type of reproduction\r\n (e.g., color transparency) and points out which\r\n reproductions are only details or cropped versions of the\r\n original works. This information can help users decide\r\n which copy to reproduce.
\r\n\r\nThe abbreviation \"b&w\" stands for\r\n black-and-white.
\r\n\r\nFor information on how to use the NCLC Reproduction\r\n numbers to obtain copies, see the \"Obtaining Copies\" link in \r\n\t\tthe catalog record for any NCLC photograph.
\r\n\r\nSubject headings for NCLC photos
\r\n\r\nRecords for many of the NCLC photographs currently have\r\n subject headings only for the place where the photograph\r\n was taken. LC staff transcribed the geographic location\r\n information from the caption cards, spelling out\r\n abbreviated state names. Where the cards showed variations\r\n in the way the same name was expressed (e.g., Spartanburg,\r\n Spartenberg, Spartanberg), staff chose one form, but they\r\n did not attempt to verify the accuracy of the\r\n identification or to match the name to approved name\r\n authority sources. When the card indicated the location as\r\n \"near [placename],\" staff rotated the information so that\r\n the placename would appear first, followed by \"vicinity.\"\r\n The word \"vicinity\" appears in the geographic location\r\n information cited in the title area, but has been\r\n eliminated in the Subject heading. Staff also expressed\r\n \"New York City\" as \"New York (State)--New York\" and\r\n Washington, D.C. as \"District of Columbia--Washington\r\n (D.C.).\" If county information was supplied on the caption\r\n card, staff included it, spelling out the term \"County.\"\r\n When a card did not include place name information, staff\r\n mentioned this in a note and, if the location could be\r\n deduced from captions for related images, it was\r\n supplied.
\r\n\r\nTopical subject headings are being added to the catalog\r\n records in stages. Access points for people (gender,\r\n occupation, ethnicity), building type or environment,\r\n activity, and objects are being added gradually starting in\r\n spring 2004.
\r\n\r\nExamples of topical subject headings being\r\n added:
\r\n\r\nGeneral practice
\r\n\r\nCatalogers assign index terms that describe what the\r\n image shows as well as what the image is about. For\r\n example, a political cartoon depicting a basketball game in\r\n which the players are dribbling a globe is \"of\" basketball\r\n and \"about\" international relations. Most of the topical\r\n terms come from the Thesaurus for Graphic Materials I:\r\n Subject Terms. http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/print/tgm1/ The\r\n proper noun headings come from the Library of Congress Name\r\n Authority File and from the Library of Congress Subject\r\n Headings, available online at: http://authorities.loc.gov/.
\r\n\r\nSome collections have only preliminary index headings\r\n and do not use standard vocabulary sources such as the\r\n Thesaurus for Graphic Materials. For example, the\r\n Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American\r\n Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) uses an uncontrolled\r\n indexing vocabulary in which different terms, such as \"Car\r\n dealership\" and \"Auto dealership,\" are sometimes used for\r\n the same subject, because the material being cataloged used\r\n those different terms. The Gottscho-Schleisner Collection\r\n headings focus on terms for types of structures (for\r\n example, \"Automobile dealerships\") and use few proper names\r\n for subjects such as buildings. (The title includes an\r\n informal building or project name taken from the\r\n photographer's logbook.)
\r\n\r\nTerms are sometimes subdivided by place and date of\r\n depiction. In other cases, the place names are expressed as\r\n hierarchical geographic \"strings\" to allow keyword access\r\n to names of countries and states as well as counties and\r\n cities.
\r\n\r\nWhenever possible, the title is transcribed from the\r\n original picture, or from a photographer's logbook or\r\n negative jacket. If the picture carries no caption, a title\r\n is devised from another source and displayed in brackets.\r\n Devised titles are written by Library staff, or they might\r\n come from a published book illustration or a former\r\n owner.
\r\n\r\nThe terms \"[sic]\" and \"[i.e.]\" indicate misspellings or\r\n erroneous information in the original titles. The correct\r\n information is provided as needed in the title or a\r\n note.
\r\n\r\nThe titles of the NCLC photographs come from typed and\r\n handwritten captions provided by the NCLC on a set of cards\r\n that came with the collection. The information is often\r\n very detailed, making for quite long titles. Sometimes the\r\n text is difficult to decipher and it often uses\r\n non-standard capitalization and punctuation.
\r\n\r\nLC staff transcribed photographer credits on the caption\r\n card as a statement of responsibility, which is separated\r\n from the title by a slash \"/\" mark. Many cards do not carry\r\n such a credit.
\r\n\r\nExample:
\r\n\r\nA sample caption card is shown in the Photo\r\n Captions section of the \"Background and Scope\" page.\r\n Viewers who have a question about a caption may find it\r\n instructive to view the card from which the caption was\r\n transcribed. The Albert O. Kuhn Library & Gallery at\r\n the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), has\r\n digitized the cards with their copies of the photos (in\r\n some cases where information was continued on the back of\r\n the card, only the front is shown). As the photos share the\r\n same Hine number used at the Library of Congress, a fast\r\n way to retrieve the image and accompanying caption is to\r\n search \"Hine\" in the \"PHOTOGRAPHER\" field and the Hine\r\n number (without leading zeroes) in the \"ACCESSION No.\"\r\n field in UMBC's photograph search\r\n system.
\r\n \r\n", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/cataloging.html", "title": "Cataloging the Collection" }, "collection":{ "digitized": "All", "code": "nclc", "display_offsite": "Yes", "thumb_large_item": "", "title": "National Child Labor Committee Collection", "banner_item": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ncl2004004049/PP/", "brief": "Photographs, primarily by Lewis Hine, focusing on children, showing workers, working and living conditions, and educational settings.", "banner_title": "Fourteen year old spinner. Lewis Hine, 1913.", "thumb_item": "nclc.00001", "home_link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/", "from_date": "1908", "view_all": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search?st=grid&co=nclc", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/", "to_date": "1924", "extent": "About 5,100 photographs.", "thumb_featured": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/featured.png", "rights": "http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/097_hine.html", "thumb_large": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/thumb_large.png", "banner": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/banner.jpg", "thumb": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/thumb.png" }, "resources":[ { "content": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/resources/about.html", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/about.html", "title": "About this Collection" }, { "content": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/resources/arrangement.html", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/arrangement.html", "title": "Arrangement and Access" }, { "content": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/resources/background.html", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/background.html", "title": "Background and Scope" }, { "content": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/resources/bibliography.html", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/bibliography.html", "title": "Selected Bibliography" }, { "content": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/resources/cataloging.html", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/cataloging.html", "title": "Cataloging the Collection" }, { "content": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/resources/digitizing.html", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/digitizing.html", "title": "Digitizing the Collection" }, { "content": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/resources/photo.html", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/photo.html", "title": "Bringing an NCLC Photo into Focus" }, { "content": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/resources/related.html", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/related.html", "title": "Related Resources" }, { "content": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/static/data/nclc/resources/reporting.html", "link": "http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/nclc/reporting.html", "title": "Reporting on Labor Conditions" } ]}