Design Library Image Classification: NCSU Libraries

The classification system which follows is based largely within tradition for browsable image collections. It divides images first by broad medium or genre, then by periods within a cultural area or region. These regions are also fairly broad and are meant more to make sense of the period subdivisions which follow then to divide the world up geographically. For example, while the Renaissance has meaning within the context of Europe, it has no parallel in Japan or Africa south of the Sahara. Note that all periods are not created equally. In some regions or cultures the need to provide fine time divisions is lessened by the shear [lack of] volume of the images held here. Even within a region timelines may differ from country to country as art or design movements spread, or perhaps failed to spread. These regions and periods derive largely from the Getty Museum's Art and Architecture Thesaurus and are deemed to largely diminish in importance after colonialism stirred the cultural pot.

After period subdivisions, the classification divides by country or site name, then by the creator of a work where this is known. While in some classification systems the type of work is accorded supremacy over creator, we chose to keep all of an artist/architect/designer's work within a broad genre together. Rather than splitting up the domestic dwellings of Frank Lloyd Wright from his institutional buildings, or the drawings of Michelangelo from his paintings, this order keeps these works together under their creator. It will not however, keep the latter's sculptures or architectural works alongside his paintings.

Where a title exists for any given work, this is to be the next subdivision after agent and type of work. The title should be that by which the piece is best known, using the artist's vernacular language where possible. Date, which has already been provided for within the slides database, is to be used in the classification only as a means of distinguishing between separate works to which the artist has assigned the same title, e.g. "Untitled" or "Seated nude". Finally, "view" represents a component/part or representation of a larger work and is controlled by a separate "Views" table.

Overarching Classification

Brackets denote that data may be omitted as needed within a slide group.

Media class
Region or Culture/Civilization
Period
[Place or Site name]
[Agent (Artist/Architect/Firm)]
Type of work
[Title of structure/work]
[Date]
[View]

Media class

The first element of the classification consists of a code representing the medium or genre of the work depicted in the image in codes a-t. The final two codes, y and z, are for images representing specific materials, attributes or properties. This area is one which always creates problems for image collections since some of the objects portrayed could be viewed as either examples of a material or as the object itself, particularly since the image itself is the product of a photographic process. For man-made objects (a locomotive, a pack of Lucky Strikes, a household appliance, a bus station, etc.), prefer classes a-t.

To enter the schedule for one of the following media classes, click on the name of the format. There you will find a more detailed breakdown of that class. Links are provided to more general tables, such as those for place or views.

a	Architecture	Building plans, buildings
c	Cartography	Maps, globes, city and regional plans
d	Decorative arts	Metalwork, furniture, ceramics, interior decoration, stained glass, mosaics
g	Graphic design	Lithographs, etchings, posters, magazine covers, container jackets, advertisements, cartoons, computer-generated art, etc.
h	Photographic arts	Photographs, holograms, photomosaics
i	Industrial design	Transportation, product design
l	Landscape architecture	Parks, gardens (not associated with a building), open spaces, environments, plant materials, swimming pools (not associated with buildings)
p	Painting and drawing	Oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, pastel, pen, pencil
s	Sculpture	Three dimensional, reliefs, installations, masks, dolls
t	Textile and fiber arts	Tapestries, fabric, lace, quilts, apparel
z	Materials, concepts and sets	Color, forms, building materials, methodology, theory, teaching sets

Region or culture/civilization; Period

A common Regional periods table can be used with all media classes. This table is based on the "Style and Period" table from the Art and Architecture Thesaurus and currently uses that tool's terminology with a more mnemonic class notation. If greater specificity is required for this element in the classification it may make more sense to just accept AAT's notation as well, perhaps dropping the initial "FL". This would provide greater flexibility when adding new collections in a particular media class as no provision has been made here for periods which are specific to a given region's pottery, for example. The main disadvantage of the AAT notation is that, unlike their terminology, there is no visual hierarchy within the numbering.

Place or site name

Another common table has been provided for Place or site to ensure continuity between the classification schedules. For ancient sites which are no longer occupied, e.g. Herculaneum, Chichen Itza, use the current political jurisdiction for the site. Many of these sites persisted through several changes in the overseeing political state, so this policy should make matters simpler. The place table has been made hierarchical, in order to keep a country's cities, a state's counties, and a continent's countries together. The authority for establishing new place names is the Union List of Geographic Names, provided on the Getty Institute Web site.

Principal agent

The principal agent is the artist, architect (or architectural firm), designer, sculptor, silversmith, or cabinetmaker with primary responsibility for creating the object depicted in the slide. Where more than one agent bears responsibility, choose the one generally regarded as either having greater responsibility for the work or greater renown. The search database will provide access to any other names associated with the work. The primary authority for establishing new agent names should be the Getty Institute's Union List of Artist Names, with backup provided by the Library of Congress Name authority file.

Type of work

This facet of the proposed system comprised the second level of classification under the AIA scheme. Unlike terms established under Places or Names, terms under this element will be unique within their media type. Tables of types and their class notation will be found under each broad media grouping. The authority for new terminology here will be the Art and Architecture Thesaurus.

Title of work

In cases where an artist or architect has assigned a name to their work, or where a title has come to be associated with an unnamed work over time, a Cutter number should be created to keep an artist's works in alphabetical order. Use the title assigned by the artist, designer or architect in the language used by that person to describe the work if it is known. This should keep versions of the title as described by vendors or researchers in different languages together. Cutter numbers should be created using the abbreviated table created by the Library of Congress. This table uses alphanumberic notation to shorten titles while continuing to sort them alphabetically.

Date

Date should only be used in cases where a title is not unique within an artist's oeuvre, as for example, when several works are described as "Untitled" or "Still Life", or where no title is used. Where a work is created over a period of several years, use the date of commencement rather than the date of completion. These should be sorted in descending order.

Views

Use this element to distinguish between works depicting a work in its entirety and those displaying a portion of the whole, as in a detail of a fresco, or nave within a cathedral. This should also be used to distinguish slides depicting a work from a particular angle, as in a side or aerial view, or when the slide shows a plan rather than the work itself. A separate views table may be used for all media types.

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Design Library image classification