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Overview

Geographic authorities are useful tools for creating keywords for your digital collections. Authorities create consistent terminology that allow for stable search/item retrieval, clear definitions for concepts, and classification of subjects within a domain.

The following guide provides an introduction to common geographic authorities used, how to apply them to collections records, and alternative resources when major authorities do not have adequate terms. If you have more questions about the content or this guide, please contact Devon Murphy at devon.murphy@austin.utexas.edu

Anatomy of a geographic term

Info

Example This term is from the Getty Vocabularies Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN); while there are variations across authorities, most will include a scope note describing the location and non-preferred names. TGN also provides approximate coordinates to protect archaeological or culturally sensitive sites; other geographic authorities offer exact coordinates. TGN also describes hierarchical geographic information on the term’s page, moving from the broadest category (the World) to the narrowest represented by the term. Some authorities include this information within the term (for example, the Library of Congress Name Authorities), while others, like TGN, do not. Geographic terms can be used to represent a variety of place definitions; political, administrative, cultural, etc. TGN does not create different terms to represent these different usages, but other authorities do, such as Geonames, which have separate terms for populated and administrative locations.

How to Use Them

Geographic places can be used similarly to subjects and names; they can be the subject of, mentioned in, or associated with a collections item.

Consider:

• What are the most common locations represented in the item?

• Are there specific historical or cultural places represented in the item?

  • NOTE: Some places may not be able to be recorded to ensure privacy or safety of the location. In these circumstances, refer to the resources in the Alternative Thesauri/Resources section for more information.

• Are there places in the item that have historically been marginalized? 

• How are these places described currently in their community or area of scholarship?

When choosing terms, consider:

• Adding terms that most fully describe what the collections item is.

• Adding terms that describe the most common and/or most important location(s) associated with the item.

• Being specific and concise with term choice. Avoid narrow terms like "Newspapers--Mexico." Consider breaking compound terms apart and putting parts into their respective fields. 

• Highlighting histories that have been systematically marginalized (ex. using vernacular place names)

• Using terms that are used by scholars and/or by members of that community. See the alternative thesauri below for more information.

• Adding only 1-2 terms to lessen visual load on the user.

• Using the preferred term first, unless it is inappropriate for the context (ex. a variant term has the most updated form.) 

Where to Find Them

The following list contains a set of the most common thesauri and controlled subject vocabularies, as well as a few that are used for specific material culture contexts. Best practice is to find terms in these larger resources first before looking for an alternative or creating one's own term.

Alternative Thesauri/Resources

If you can't find the term you need in the thesauri and controlled vocabularies above, or if the terms listed are not appropriate (outdated, not reflective of current scholarship, etc.), consider using some of the resources below. You can also create your own term (guide forthcoming.)

Using these terms in UT Sites