AAT Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Diffuse list of museum standards • http://www.diffuse.org/museums.html#help
It’s Purpose • Standards list used by museums to classify and describe their collections in electronic form • Relies on a structured vocabulary • Polyheirarchical • Currently contains over 125,000 terms • Access two ways: • Using as implemented in a collection management system • Online database
Advantages of AAT • Provides structure and classification schemes to document material culture • Framework is not subject specific • http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/
History • (1985) Thesaurus Artis Universitalis(TAU) • Multilingual art thesaurus • English, French, German, Italian, Spanish • Begun by CIHA-Intr’l Comm for the History of Art • (1989) CIHA endorsed use of AAT as base language • (1991) Project changes scope and nature • larger than imagined • Lost financial support as scope broadened
History Continued • AAT has a strong network of partnerships with specialized institutions • Institutions release staff for week-long residences • Currently moving from American-English terminology to other CIHA languages
How it works • Structure and classification scheme using: Concepts: • Guide terms • Hierarchy Names • Facets
The Concept Types • Objects and architecture (e.g., drinking cups, cathedrals) • Materials (e.g., bronze, stained glass) • Styles and periods (e.g., art deco, Baroque) • Types of people (e.g., potters, sculptors) • Activities (e.g., museology, printmaking) • Physical attributes (e.g., inlays, crazing) • Associated concepts (e.g., realism, artistic concepts)
Terms • Records serving as place savers to create a hierarchical level so that AAT can locate related concepts e.g.: <planographic printing processes>
Hierarchy Name • Refers to the top of a hierarchy . e.g.: Ornate Style • Method of structuring and displaying a concept within its broader context
Example of the immediate hierarchical tree for Ornate Style in its Full Record display:
Concepts with Multiple Parents: The AAT is polyhierarchical. When a concept may be comfortably placed in more than one location within the logic of the AAT hierarchies, the concept may have multiple parents.
Facets • The major subdivisions of the hierarchical structure • Conceptually organized from abstract concepts of concrete physical artifacts
The Facets • ASSOCIATED CONCEPTS FACETHierarchy: Associated Concepts • PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES FACETHierarchies: Attributes and Properties, Conditions and Effects, Design Elements, Color • STYLES AND PERIODS FACETHierarchy: Styles and Periods • AGENTS FACETHierarchies: People, Organizations • ACTIVITIES FACET Hierarchies: Disciplines, Functions, Events, Physical and Mental Activities, Processes and Techniques • MATERIALS FACETHierarchy: Materials • OBJECTS FACETHierarchies: Object Groupings and Systems, Object Genres, Components
AAT Record : • Unique numeric ID • Terms/Concepts • Related Concepts • Data Sources • Notes
ID Number Example ID:300194841
Terms • Singular and plural forms • Inverted order • Spelling variants • Various forms of speech • Synonyms • Descriptor (flagged as preferred term that maintains parent place in the hierarchy)
Preferred term • Example: Preferred Term/Descriptor • Controlled Vocabulary
Data Sources • Institutions that contributed term • Bibliographic sources of the terms
Scope Notes • Defines concept meaning and how it differs from related concepts
Refer to handout:full record search results: coffee cups
How to use AAT online • http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/help.html • Search for a term e.g.: pens • Read the results, refine search if necessary
