The National Portrait Gallery uses the Getty TGN.  When we started using
TMS, we converted our geography data to the free-form fields, but our data
was very clean so we later converted it to the Getty fields and stopped
using the free form fields.  We have found that the Getty doesn't have all
of the cities we need.  Also, we frequently know the city name, but not the
county.  If there is more than one city by the same name in a state and you
don't know the county, you've got a problem.

Linda Thrift
Center for Electronic Research & Outreach Services
  Catalog of American Portraits
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
P.O. Box 37012
Victor Building, Suite 8300, MRC 973
750 Ninth Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20013-7012
Tel 202-275-1847
Email [log in to unmask]
Web www.npg.si.edu


>>> [log in to unmask] 7/27/2005 3:31:46 PM >>>
Dear TMSers,

On this very hot day, two geography questions:

1. Do you use the Geography Xrefs (with Getty TGN)?
2. Do you use the free-form Geography (below the Xrefs)?
3. Do you use another method?

We have been using the second method up to now, because it can be tailored
to make the geographical information display the way curators want it,
record by record.  Free-form is not good for searching, however.  And hard
to maintain.  So we are also planning to add the Getty TGN for countries
and
continents, when known.  Not to display, but to search.

We are also looking at other geographical resources as well.  I have been
primarily been looking at
http://www.loc.gov/marc/countries/cou_home.html

We would be interested in hearing what others are doing in this area.

A more specific question is:
Do you have formalized guidelines for when to use Netherlandish, early
Netherlandish, Flemish, and Belgian for artist nationality and/or culture
field?

Also, for geographic location:
We have the following "countries":
Belgium
Netherlands
Netherlands (historic name, 15th-16th century)
Southern Netherlands (now Belgium)

For some works we have none of the above, but have Flanders (historical
region) in the Region field.

Any comments? Guidelines?

Would love to clean this up.

Thanks,
Jenny

________________________
Jenny Wilker, Ph.D.
Manager, Collection Information
Information Services
Philadelphia Museum of Art
215-684-7746