Terminologies

MONUMENT TYPE (WALES), from RCAHMW, is a list of monument types for use in Wales.

The FISH Evidence Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage includes terminology covering the existing physical remains of a monument, or the means by which a monument has been identified where no physical remains exist.

Maritime Craft Thesaurus (Scotland), from Historic Environment Scotland, contains the types of craft that survive as wrecks, or are documented as losses, in Scottish maritime waters.

PERIOD (WALES), from RCAHMW, is a list of periods for use in Wales.

ScAPA : Scottish Archaeological Periods and Ages, from Historic Environment Scotland, is a list of archaeological periods & ages for cultural heritage use in Scotland.

The Archaeological Objects Thesaurus (Scotland), from Historic Environment Scotland, contains 0bjects made by human activity in Scotland.

The FISH Heritage Subjects and Themes from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage is a thesaurus for describing subjects and themes associated with heritage assets.

The Historic England Maritime Object Material is used for record the construction materials of maritime vessels and, where appropriate, their cargoes.

The FISH Maritime Ordnance Type Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage is used to record the ordnance and armament associated with a vessel and which may be useful, when found in association with a wreck site, in identifying a specific craft.

The Monument Type Thesaurus (Scotland), from Historic Environment Scotland, contains monument types relating to the archaeological and built heritage of Scotland.

This is the list of periods used in Historic England datasets.

The FISH Nationality Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage is a list of nationalities for indexing vessels and aircraft.

The FISH Maritime Fixtures and Fittings Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage is used for recording fixtures and fittings associated with vessels found in a maritime context and often useful in identifying a specific craft.

The FISH Farmsteads Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage Thesaurus is for indexing different types of farmsteads, related buildings, areas and layouts.

This resource is an international linked data vocabulary of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) terms. It is intended to function as a companion to broad subject term vocabularies, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions can use it to support LGBTQ research by enhancing the discoverability of their LGBTQ resources.

The Social History and Industrial Classification (SHIC) system is used by many British museums with social history and industrial collections as a way to make links between objects through their context and background.

The thesaurus is primarily concerned with suggesting preferred terms for use in describing objects which relate to the inland waterways of the British Isles and establishing relationships between them.

This thesaurus is primarily concerned with suggesting preferred terms for use in indexing railway objects and establishing relationships between them. Complexes comprising many objects such as stations, depots or even complete railway systems are included.

When following a Spectrum procedure, you will often be advised to record something using ‘a standard term source’. But what sources? And where to find them? To help, we’ve drawn up this list of the published term sources we know about, mapped to relevant Spectrum units of information. This is still a working document, and we need your help to fill in the gaps.

The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) Techniques Thesaurus was developed in 2017-18 and draws on external lists and MERL’s own terms. It is intended as a complete list for primary terms, with scope for further secondary terms to be added as appropriate secondary term lists are developed, eg for weaving techniques.

The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) Materials Thesaurus was developed in 2017-18 and draws on external term lists and the MERL’s own terms for materials. It is intended as a complete list for primary terms, with some secondary and tertiary terms pre-populated.

The FISH Event Types Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage is an indexing tool to be used for recording archaeological and architectural investigative, data collection exercises; from intrusive interventions to non-damaging survey events.

The FISH Evidence Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage includes terminology covering the existing physical remains of a monument, or the means by which a monument has been identified where no physical remains exist.

The Archaeological Sciences Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage is used for recording the techniques, recovery methods and materials associated with the archaeological sciences.

The FISH Components Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage includes terminology covering divisions and structural elements of a building or monument, relating to the built or buried heritage. It also includes terms that describe areas and spaces, decorative features, fixtures and fittings, machinery and implied features.

The Resource Description Thesaurus, jointly developed by the National Trust and English Heritage, includes terminology for archival resource type, format and material (for example, ‘a diary’ and ‘hardcopy > paper’).

The Historic Aircraft Type Thesaurus is an indexing terminology for the recording of aircraft remains and crash sites, listing aircraft types by form, function and manufacturer (e.g. Atlas, Target, Westland).

Nomenclature is the standard cataloguing tool for thousands of museums and historical organisations across the United States and Canada. It is currently a hard-copy publication only.

The Dewey Decimal Classification is the most widely used classification system in the world. Libraries in more than 135 countries use it to organize and provide access to their collections.

Mammal Species of the World is a database of mammalian taxonomy organised in a hierarchy that includes Order, Suborder, Family, Subfamily, Genus, Species and Subspecies.

The Index Nominum Genericorum is a compilation of generic names published for all organisms covered by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, and also includes bibliographic citations and information about the typification and nomenclatural status of generic names.

The FISH Building Material Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage includes terms for construction materials for monuments relating to the built and buried heritage.

The FISH Maritime Craft Types Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage includes terms for craft types which survive as wrecks for Historic England’s maritime record and can be used to describe types of ship.

The FISH Maritime Cargo Types Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage includes terms for types of cargo being carried by ships when they went down.

The Maritime Place Name Thesaurus from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage includes terms for maritime ports, countries and bodies of water from and to which ships may have sailed or been registered.

The Archaeological Objects Thesaurus was originally developed by MDA (now Collections Trust) and has been further developed by the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage (FISH). It includes terms for physical evidence, usually portable, resulting from past human activity or environmental remains that can be recovered from archaeological fieldwork.

The Defence of Britain Thesaurus was originally developed for the Defence of Britain Project, completed in 2002. It includes types of defensive monuments relating to the 20th century in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The FISH Thesaurus of Monument Types from the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage includes terms for types of monuments relating to the built and buried heritage in England.

The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN) is a structured vocabulary, including names, descriptions, and other metadata for extant and historical cities, empires, archaeological sites, and physical features important to research of art and architecture. This controlled vocabulary may be used by someone cataloguing or indexing a collection as it provides preferred names or terms.

The Getty Union List of Artist Names (ULAN) is a structured vocabulary, including names, biographies, related people, and other metadata about artists, architects, firms, studios, museums, patrons, sitters, and other people and groups involved in the creation and study of art and architecture.

Iconclass is a classification system used by art historians, researchers and curators. It is a hierarchically ordered collection of definitions of objects, people, events and abstract ideas that may form the subject of an image. It is widely accepted as a scientific tool for description, retrieval and research of subjects in images.

The Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) is a structured vocabulary, including terms, descriptions, and other metadata for generic concepts related to art, architecture, conservation, archaeology, and other cultural heritage. Included are work types, styles, materials, techniques, and others.

This thesaurus reflects the nature of the British Museum collections, and was originally set up as an internal reference tool. Some areas of terminology may be more specific than others, depending on the level of documentation available, or the size of particular collections.

The Materials Thesaurus was initially compiled from index terms generated from computer records created using curatorial documentation and the objects themselves. The final listing is not intended as a scientific classification system, rather it is a reflection of the terminology, both current and historical, in use in curatorial departments in The British Museum.

ICOM International Committee for the Museums and Collections of Costume’s Vocabulary of Basic Terms for Cataloguing Costume offers comprehensive guidance on cataloguing costume to ensure that the information contained in each garment in museum collections are recorded clearly.