Cataloging Resources

For project media description, catalogers adopted widely used data standards. At the collection level, there are archival finding aids following Describing Archives a Content Standard (DACS). Individual reels are described using the PBCore data structure. The project uses PBCore version 1.3; PBCore version 2.0 was released in early 2011.

Northeast Historic Film uses Web-enabled free and open source software, CollectiveAccess, to create the descriptive records using a profile designed for describing moving images. NHF's CollectiveAccess cataloging manual is available here: Download PDF

On this page, we have rounded up key resources for further exploring the data standards used in the project and other issues related to media cataloging.

DACS/EAD

DACS and EAD

Describing Archives: A Content Standard supports exchange of information on archival collections, recognizing that materials created and gathered by a person, family or organization are intentionally and consciously assembled for some purpose (DACS viii.) Providing information about the provenance, or context, of amateur film collections helps researchers exploring their cultural history.

For more information on DACS and Encoded Archival Description

PBCore

PBCore is a metadata standard for audiovisual media, created for the description of analog and digital objects to support exchange of information. PBCore development (launched in 2005) was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting based on Dublin Core, for use with audiovisual media and with the input of community members in a range of institutions, including and well beyond broadcast.

http://pbcore.org/
PBCore, metadata standard for audiovisual media; PBCore 2.0 released January 2011
http://www.slideshare.net/cmichael/pbcore-overview
Overview in 22 slides by Dave MacCarn, WGBH chief techologist and PBCore developer, 2009
http://pbcore.org/wp-content/uploads/PBCoreDiagram-v2.jpg
PBCore elements graphical view
http://pbcore.org/v2/elements/pbcoredescriptiondocument/pbcoreinstantiation
Instantiation, "elements that identify the nature of the media asset as it exists in some form or format in the physical world or digitally"
http://www.pbcoreresources.org/
PBCore Resources, collaboration site since 2008

Moving Image Genre/Form Terms

http://olacinc.org/drupal/capc_files/GenreFormHeadingsList.pdf
Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials, compiled by Scott M. Dutkiewicz, Updated through April 6 2011
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/h1913.pdf
Library of Congress Instructions on Moving Image Genre/Form Headings (H1913)
Guidelines for the assignment of genre/form headings to works cataloged by M/B/RS, August 2007
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genre_form_faq.pdf
Frequently Asked Questions about Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials (LCGFT), Revised August 12, 2010

Subjects

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/128237845
Yee, Martha M. (2007). Moving Image Cataloging: How to Create and How to Use a Moving Image Catalog. Introduction to Subject Analysis, Chapter 6. (particularly Why Use LCSH?, 121-125.)

Metadata

http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/crossmedia/advice/an-introduction-to-metadata/
An Introduction to Metadata, JISC Digital Media, (Joint Information Systems Committee, UK ) January 2010

More Product, Less Process

Greene, M. & Meissner, D. (2004). More product, less process: Revamping traditional archival processing. American Archivist, 68(2), 208-263.
Greene, M. (2010). MPLP: It’s not just for processing anymore. American Archivist, 73(1), 175-203.