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Chapter 3: Physical Characteristics
(Measurements/Materials and Techniques/State and Edition/Additional
Physical Characteristics
3.1.1 Discussion
Physical characteristics describe a work's appearance
and the characteristics of its physical form. Metadata
elements addressed here include Measurements, Materials
and Techniques, and State and Edition. Additional elements
are discussed as Additional Physical Characteristics
and may be required by museums and collecting institutions,
but typically will not be needed by visual resources
collections. This chapter does not deal with the physical
characteristics of the surrogate visual image. Visual
resources collections, however, will typically require
fields to document such information for surrogates as
administrative metadata rather than descriptive metadata.
Measurements
The Measurements element contains information about
the dimensions, size, or scale of the work. Measurements
may be recorded according to different criteria, depending
upon the type of work being measured. A two-dimensional
painting will be measured differently than a three-dimensional
statue. Measurements may vary depending on whether the
work is framed, mounted, or installed. Measurements
for architecture, clothing, and time-based media such
as film and video each require different criteria. The
recommendations given here are for recording a work's
basic measurements (for example, the height and width
of a canvas). Published sources listed in the bibliography,
such as Categories for the Description of Works of
Art, Documenting Your Collections, and Info-Muse
Network Documentation Guide, provide more detailed
information on how to document and measure original
works. Whichever sources you use, it is important to
maintain clear and consistent measuring and recording
techniques within your institution.
Materials and Techniques
The Materials and Techniques element includes the substances
or materials used in the creation of a work, as well
as any production or manufacturing techniques, processes,
or methods incorporated in its fabrication. This information
includes a description of the technique, media, and
support used in the creation of the work. It clarifies
the relationship between the materials of which the
work is made and the techniques used to apply them.
Materials are the substances of which the work is composed.
In many forms of art, a distinction is made between
materials used as the media (such as oil paint
or chalk) and materials used as the support (such
as canvas or paper). Technique encompasses
the instruments, processes, and methods used in the
application of materials, such as painting, etching,
pen, burin. In the example below, pen is
the instrument, ink and black chalk are the media,
and paper is the support.
Example
pen
and ink and black chalk on paper
Materials and techniques may be recorded together or
in separate fields, depending upon the needs of the
cataloging institution. Furthermore, materials may be
subdivided into media and support, if required by the
institution. However, combining them all for display
and access is recommended.
State and Edition
The State and Edition elements refer primarily to works
produced in multiples. State describes the relationship
of a work to other stages of the same work (for example,
the third state of five total states, 3rd of 5 states).
State is most often used with prints, which may be pulled
from a plate that has been altered repeatedly. State
may sometimes refer to the creation of works other than
prints, including any sequence of related stages that
together build toward the creation of a work of art
or architecture. Each variation in the plate or stage
of production is identified as a particular state. The
Edition element may identify a specific print or other
work in the context of a limited number of identical
or very similar works made or issued at the same time
and from the same matrix. For prints, the number of
the impression at hand is often juxtaposed with the
number of prints in a run (for example, 2/32).
In addition to the numbered edition, a few other impressions
may be printed (for example, artist's proofs, printer's
proofs, hors de commerce). Edition may also be used
in another sense, to describe an issuance of a work
in relation to previous and subsequent editions; this
use of edition often refers to books (2nd edition,
for example). A new edition of a book usually involves
substantive revisions to the intellectual content of
the work, including alterations of the text or illustrations.
Additional Physical Characteristics
Museums and other collecting institutions may require
additional elements, supplementing those listed in other
sections of this chapter. These elements could include
Inscriptions and Facture, among others.
Specificity
To guarantee accuracy, information regarding physical
characteristics ideally should be determined, when possible,
through direct physical examination, laboratory analysis,
and research. Catalogers in museums and other collecting
institutions would generally use documentation based
on such examinations. Visual resources collections will
necessarily obtain the information second- or third-hand
from various sources rather than by direct physical
examination.
Specificity refers to the degree of precision in the
terminology used, ranging from broad, general terms
to narrow, specific terms. For example, for the Materials
and Techniques elements, should the cataloger use the
more general term wood, or the specific term
poplar? The cataloging institution should establish
rules to ensure consistent levels of specificity across
all records and guidelines for handling instances when
information about a work is limited or unavailable.
Criteria for establishing rules for specificity should
include the size, focus, and requirements of the collection,
and the expertise of the catalogers and the end users.
The accuracy of the measurements of works may vary depending
upon the needs of the institution. Records for visual
resources collections generally do not require the level
of specificity required by museums.
Exhaustivity
The level of completeness or exhaustivity in assigning
terminology for physical attributes will depend on the
requirements of the cataloging institution. How many
aspects of the work will be cataloged? For example,
for a print, will you record the sizes of the plate
mark and the secondary support in addition to the size
of the primary support? How many terms will be assigned
to each work? For example, for a work constructed by
various processes, will you list every process, only
the primary process, or a phrase such as various
processes? Criteria for making such decisions will
depend on time limitations, available human resources,
and the focus of the collection. Works may be cataloged
in groups or only minimally in order to gain initial
control of a collection; more thorough application of
physical attributes terminology can be done later, in
phases.
Approximations and Uncertainty
If analysis or documentation is inconclusive or impossible,
or there is uncertainty about the physical attributes
of a work, this should be indicated in a free-text display
field (for example, approximately 100 x 150 cm,
or oil or oil and tempera on panel).
Such uncertainty may require that the multiple possibilities
be indexed in the controlled fields. For example, if
it is uncertain which of two materials was used, they
should both be indexed in the controlled fields for
retrieval.
Organization of Data
It is strongly advised to record measurements and materials
and techniques if that information is available. Museums
and other owning institutions generally require them.
Edition information is required for books. State and
edition information is recommended for prints, if known.
For other types of works, state and edition information
is generally not required, but should be recorded when
the information is available.
Certain information about physical characteristics
is best recorded in a free-text field for display in
combination with controlled fields for access. Controlled
fields should be repeatable. It is recommended to use
controlled vocabularies, authorities, and consistent
formatting of certain information to ensure efficient
end-user retrieval. See the discussion in Part 1: Database
Design and Relationships: Display and Indexing.
Recommended Elements
A list of the elements discussed in this chapter appears
below. Required elements are noted. (Display may be
a free-text field or concatenated from controlled fields.)
Measurements display (required)
Value
Unit
Type
Extent
Qualifier
Shape
Format
Scale
Material and Techniques display (required)
Material
Material Type
Technique
Color
Mark
Extent
Qualifier
Edition display
Impression Number
Edition Size
Edition Number
State display
State Identification
Known States
Source of State
Inscriptions
Inscription Type
Inscription Location
Inscription Author
Facture
Physical Description
Condition and Examination History
Conservation and Treatment History
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