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HELP!
Language confusion occurring!
Image from http://www.the-whole-story.org/ee/detail.php?id=411
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 To aid searching, an archival
catalogue should ideally be indexed
by both name and subject.
 There is some debate about this,
considering the search capabilities of
modern software.
 I think indexing is important, for
searching in a printed and digital
environment.
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• Naming persons, families, place and
organisations is relatively easy.
• There are rules to follow:
 National Council on Archives for the UK elaborates
upon the international ISAAR(CPF) rules
• Although each catalogue contains unique
entries, the rules make creating new index
entries (‘authority files’) relatively
straightforward.
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• How are subjects indexed?
• The Institute of Our Lady of Mercy Archive contains
objects as well as paper and digital records, plus it is
UK-centric.
• Objects can be indexed to a broad level using the Getty
Thesaurus of Art & Architecture.
• The international UNESCO thesaurus doesn’t go into
enough detail for it to be used in a specialist repository
(such as we are).
• Although the Library of Congress Subject Headings
(LCSH) is the most complete, it is American-centric
(world-view of topics, spellings).
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• Whilst UKAT does expand upon the work of UNESCO,
there are still no entries to the level of detail required for
indexing the archives of this Catholic Order of Women
Religious. Below are all the entries currently on the
subject index (not very many!) using UKAT:
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• Use of a controlled vocabulary to avoid
language confusion
• For example, entries for Catholic,
Religious order and Women Religious
would be needed.
• Women Religious alone would need nonpreferred terms: Nun, Sister, Lay Sister,
Choir Sister; and narrower terms of
Apostolic and Enclosed.
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My attempt to sort a few of the ‘Agents’ found within the archive using
the UNESCO thesaurus: [MT Micro Thesaurus; UF Used For; BT
Broader Term; NT Narrower Term; RT Related Term]
Religious communities
MT 3.20 Religion
UF Congregations, Religious orders
BT Religious institutions
NT Religious minorities
NT Female enclosed communities
NT Male enclosed communities
NT Female active communities (see
ISAAR names index)
eg Religious Sisters of Mercy
UF RSM, Sisters of Mercy
NT Male active communities
RT Religious Sisters
RT Church
RT Religious sects
Religious Sisters
[from MT 1.55 Educational population]
UF Nun, Women Religious
[bypassing atm issue of Sister=active,
Nun=enclosed]
BT Religious personnel/population [not
pastoral roles; not occupation as the whole
thesaurus is about RSM at moment]
NT1 Pre-Candidate
NT1 Candidate
NT1 Postulant
NT1 Novice
NT1 Professed Sister
NT2 Choir Sister
NT2 Lay Sister
RT Pastoral Roles
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Pre-Candidate
SN Initial enquiry stage.
BT Religious Sister
Candidate
UF Aspirant, Pre-Postulant
BT Religious Sister
RT Pre-Candidate
RT Postulant
Postulant
UF Choir postulant, Black veil,
Black novice
BT Religious Sister
RT Candidate
RT Novice
Novice
UF White novice, White veil
BT Religious Sister
RT Postulant
RT Professed Sister
Professed Sister
BT Religious Sisters
NT Choir Sister
NT Lay Sister
RT Novice
Choir Sister
SN Position abolished postVatican II in the 1960s.
BT Professed Sister
RT Lay Sister
Lay Sister
SN Position abolished postVatican II in the 1960s.
UF Senior lay sister
BT Professed Sister
RT Choir Sister
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UKAT:
• Religious Communities
http://www.ukat.org.uk/thesaurus/term.php?i=5077
• Religious Practice
http://www.ukat.org.uk/thesaurus/term.php?i=5445
• Roman Catholics
http://www.ukat.org.uk/thesaurus/term.php?i=9587
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My questions are:
• Has anyone done any work on this already? I
have no wish to re-invent the wheel!
• If no consideration has been given to this
previously, is that because it is not deemed of
importance or because it is complex and timeconsuming?
• Does work on a Mercy subject thesaurus need
taking forward on an international scale?
• Is anyone with grammatical skills be willing to
assist in the creation of a controlled vocabulary,
if it is relevant?
From http://happycatholic.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html