Data Entry

THL Toolbox > Reference > Bibliographies > THL SPT User's Manual > Data Entry

Data Entry in the THL SPT Bibliographical Management System

Contributor(s): Steven Weinberger, THL Staff.

General Tips

If the SPT screen does not display properly, pull down the browser’s “View” menu and select Text Size > Medium.

If the Navigation box is obscuring the record you are viewing, click “Hide Navigation,” which is below the help button beneath the Metadata Tool box. To make the Navigation box display, click on “Display Navigation” (it might be that only “Navigation” appears) in the upper right corner of the record.

To prevent a record from being accessible to the public (such as when you stop working in the middle of a record and don't want it public until you finish), in the “Release Flag” field at the bottom of the record, select “Not OK for viewing.” Later, when you want to continue editing the record, you cannot search for the record by title. Instead, select Metadata Tool > Edit Resources and in the search page that opens, do the following: pull down the Added By menu near the bottom of the page and select your username; pull down the Release Flag menu and select “Not approved for viewing”; and then click search. This will return all records you have marked “Not approved for viewing.”

It is standard library practice to put a space both before and after a colon and semi-colon in bibliographic records. We are following this practice for Title fields, the Extent field, and other similar fields. However, for the Description field and other fields with prose, we are using standard essay punctuation: a space after a colon or semi-colon but no space before.

Italics, boldface, and other markup: since the SPT database uses HTML, font and formatting is all done with markup. There are a limited number of markup options in SPT, and they are available in free text fields only. The most frequently used are:

bold, which is marked up in this way: <b>text in boldface</b>

italics, which is marked up this way: <i>text to be italicized</i>

underline, which is marked up this way: <u>text to be underlined</u>

If you have a lengthy prose section and want to break it into more than one paragraph, the markup is:

<p>This is the first paragraph.</p>

<p>This is the second paragraph.</p>
etc. (you can obviously enter more text in each paragraph than in the example above).

Put block quotes inside <q>blockquote</q> tags (be sure to close the preceding paragraph with a </p> tag).

Hyperlinks are an important markup feature that allows you to create links to other web pages. For example, if in the description of a record you mention the THL site, you can create a link to the THL homepage (external link: http://www.thlib.org/) with the following markup:

<a href="http://www.thlib.org/">THL</a>

Note: whatever is between the > and < (here, “THL”) will be the actual text that appears as the link. Links to non-THL pages only should include the attribute target="_blank", which will then open in a new browser window. For example, to link to the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center site (external link: http://www.tbrc.org), the markup is: &lt;a href="http://www.tbrc.org" target="_blank"&gt;.

Other markup options are:

  • strikethru, which is marked up &lt;s&gt;text to strikethru&lt;/s&gt;
  • superscript marked up &lt;sup&gt;text to be superscripted&lt;/sup&gt;
  • subscript &lt;sub&gt;text to be subscripted&lt;/sub&gt;.

Enclose in square brackets [ ] dates and other such factual data that are drawn from a source other than the resource being cataloged.

Tibetan & Diacritics

  1. For Tibetan names or words (including those in classifications – see the description of the “classification” field below), you must use external link: THL Phonetics and external link: THL Extended Wylie (no caps, no dashes, no italics) strictly. Our practice is to give the phonetic rendering followed by the Wylie transliteration in parentheses UNLESS you are entering the title of a Tibetan text. For Tibetan titles, enter the unicode first, followed by THL Extended Wylie in parentheses (each with a shad at the end). The fact that these other fields do not display unicode Tibetan is a problem that will be solved in the future. Examples:
    Longchen Rapjampa (klong chen rab ’byams pa)
    Kagyü (bka’ brgyud)
    Note: the THL Phonetics documentation also specifies THL capitalization practices for Tibetan names, such as Longchen Rapjampa, Tsongkhapa, Butön Rinchendrup, and Yeshé Ö.
  2. If you are creating a record for a Tibetan text, enter the title in unicode first, followed by THL Extended Wylie in parentheses in the “Title” field (again, no italics, no caps, no dashes), and then enter the English translation in the “Title in Other Language” field. If there is a Chinese equivalent title, enter the Chinese followed by the Pinyin in parentheses into the "Title in Other Language (2nd)" field. Example:
    1. Title: བོད་རྒྱ་ཚིག་མཛོད་ཆེན་མོ། (bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo/)
    2. Language of Title: Tibetan
    3. Title in Other Language: An Encyclopaedic Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary
    4. Other Language: English
    5. Title in Other Language (2nd): 藏漢大辭典 (Zang-Han da cidian)
    6. Other Language (second): Chinese
  3. Do NOT put Tibetan words in italics (this includes the “Keyword” field)
  4. Tibetan publishers and authors: if they already have established standard English spellings (such as Tulku Thondup or Dudjom Rinpoche), enter this into controlled names with Extended Wylie transliteration in parentheses. If there is not already a standard English spelling, use THL Phonetics for the name, and put the Extended Wylie transliteration in parentheses. The fact that these other fields do not display unicode Tibetan is a problem that will be solved in the future.
  5. All diacritics can be entered by keystroke if you have installed the Windows System Keyboard for Unicode Diacritic Fonts, by copying and pasting diacritics from a word-processing file, or by copying and pasting from a external link: chart of diacritic characters.

Required Fields

Required fields are indicated by a red asterisk (*). These fields MUST have data entered in them when you submit a new record or the record will not be created and your work will be lost. Required fields are:

Title
Description
Release Flag
Date of Record Creation
Date Record Checked

Note: the latter three fields are filled out automatically by SPT, so as long as you enter a title and description for the resource the record will be successfully created when you submit it.

Types of Fields

There are four types of fields within SPT: text fields, preset option lists, date and timestamp fields, and controlled names. For text fields you simply type the text you want to input.

Preset option lists are boxes that your scroll through and then select the option you want by clicking on it. To select multiple options in a single option box, click on the first option you want, then hold down the “control” (Ctrl) key (the “Command” key on the Mac, aka the “Apple” key) and click on any additional options you want. To select a block of options, click on the option you want that is closest to the top of the list, hold down the shift key, and click on the option you want that is closest to the bottom of the list; this will select all options from the top option you clicked to the bottom option you clicked. If you want an option that is NOT in an option list please send email to the general editor (external link: thdlreference@virginia.edu) and we will consider adding it.

Date and timestamp fields: dates should be entered in the standard format YYYY-MM-DD. It is also possible to enter a partial date such as YYYY-MM. For resources other than periodicals or series, if the resource was published over a specific period of time and publication has ended, in the published date field use this format: YYYY-YYYY. If the resource was published and then republished, use the format YYYY,YYYY to indicate the year of publication and republication. To indicate a date of publication drawn from somewhere other than the resource being described, use the format [YYYY]. Note: it is also possible to enter the date in the format “January 25, 1992”; in such cases, will automatically convert it into the format YYYY-MM-DD.

Controlled name fields (author/creator, publisher, editor, and so forth). Unlike text fields in which you simply type the data in the appropriate space, a controlled name must be created and then assigned to a given record. Every name has a single authorized form (variants go in the Variant Names field, about which see below). For all non-Tibetan names we are using the Library of Congress authority list of names (external link: http://authorities.loc.gov/), which is employed by almost all libraries in North America, except that we are using the format of First Name Last Name, instead of the LOC format Last Name, First Name. For example, the authority name for Don Lopez is:

Lopez, Donald S., 1952-

Thus, for an SPT record of a book written by Don Lopez,

Donald S. Lopez, 1952-

is the controlled name that would be assigned as author/creator even if the actual book has

Donald S. Lopez, Jr.

as the author (in this case, “Donald S. Lopez, Jr.” would go in the Variant Names field, as explained below).
Note: when searching the Library of Congress authority files, be sure to select “Name Authority Headings” as the type of heading.

Format for controlled names: enter personal names with the exception of Tibetan names in the format First Name Last Name for the author/creator all fields including author/creator. Add the person’s dates (if known) at the end of the name. If the person is dead, use the format YYYY-YYYY; if the person is living, use the format YYYY-. Tibetan names are entered in the format for what are known as corporate entities. Examples:

Longchen Rapjampa (klong chen rab ’byams pa), 1308-1363
Tsongkhapa (tsong kha pa), 1357-1419
Butön Rinchendrup (bu ston rin chen grub), 1290-1364
Yeshé Ö (ye shes ’od)

Procedure for assigning controlled names to a record: you must first check to see if the name has already been created in that particular controlled name list. The procedure is as follows:

  1. Click on the button for that field (for example, “Add more Author/Creators”).
  2. Type the name in the search box and click “Search Author/Creators” (capitalization does not matter in searches).
    Note: search on only one word or part of a name at a time. This will avoid the problem of not finding a name if you type it in the wrong format (for instance, if you search on "Joe Schmoe" it will not return "Schmoe, Joe").
  3. If the search produces any matches, select the one you want by clicking the box next to the name. Then click on the button “Select author/creator to be added to New Resource Record.” This will assign the author/creator you selected to the record and will return you to the record.
    Note: entering an asterisk (*) or a single space in the search field will return a list of all names in that controlled name field.

Adding Controlled Names
If the search does NOT find the name:

  1. Search for the name in the Library of Congress authority file at external link: http://authorities.loc.gov/ (remember that this is for non-Tibetan names only). If you find the name, use that form of the name in the next step, but change it to the format First Name Last Name. For Tibetan names you should also search according to the LC transliteration scheme. If you find the name, you should enter it in the Variant Names field when you create the controlled name.
  2. Enter the name in the “Create a New Controlled Name” field below the search field.
  3. Add any variant names in the “Variant Name” field (see below for more detail). Multiple variant names are allowed within the “Variant Name” field; separate them with a semicolon.
  4. Click on the button “Add New Author/Creator and Assign to Resource.” This both creates the controlled name and assigns it to the record you are creating.

For all controlled name fields, multiple names can be assigned to a record, but each must be assigned individually, since every time you submit a controlled name SPT takes you back to the resource record you are creating. For example, after you have assigned an author/creator to the record, you will have to click the “Add More Author/Creator(s)” button and go through the process again for each additional author/creator you want to add.

Variant Name field. Each controlled name has a “Variant Name” field attached to it. Enter variant names when you create the controlled name. For example, the Library of Congress authority name for Don Lopez is

Lopez, Donald S., 1952-

Variant names include

  • Lopez, Donald, Jr.
  • Lopez, Donald S., Jr.

Enter multiple variant names in the “Variant Name” field, separated by a semicolon. Example: for the Tibetan author klong chen rab ’byams pa, this goes in the name field:

Longchen Rapjampa (klong chen rab ’byams pa)

This goes in the Variant Names field:

Longchenpa (klong chen pa); Drimé Özer (dri med ’od zer); Dorjé Ziji (rdo rje gzi brjid)

Note: in the form for creating a controlled name, the search will search across both names and variant names. However, searches in the Navigate > Advanced Search and Metadata Tool > Edit Resources on a controlled name field do not search variant names.

You can also add and edit controlled names through the Metadata Tool. Clicking on Edit Controlled Names allows you to search for a controlled name (including its attached variant names) and, if it is found, to edit it by making your changes, clicking in the box to the left of the name, and then clicking “Update Checked Record.” Any changes you make are automatically and immediately applied to all existing bibliographic records that contain that controlled name in that particular controlled name field.

  • Note: you MUST select the type of controlled name (author/creator, publisher, etc.) before EACH search, since the program reverts to the default field after every search.
  • Note: entering an asterisk (*) or a single space in the search field will return a list of all names in that controlled name field. This not only allows you to see all the names for a particular controlled name field at once, but it also allows you to edit multiple controlled names at the same time. Be sure to click the box next to each controlled name that you edit before you click “Update Checked Record.” Otherwise, the changes you made will not be entered.
  • For more information and tips on searching, go to Metadata Tool > Metadata Tool Help > General Search Tips.

The Add New Controlled Names function in the Metadata Tool box allows you to add controlled names (with variant names) to any of the controlled names fields. Again, you must specify in the dropdown menu the field to which you want to add the controlled name. You can add multiple controlled names, one at a time, by clicking on the “Return to Add Controlled Names” button at the bottom of the page after you have successfully added a name. Note: you can use this function to add multiple controlled names at the same time. For example, you can add all the authors of articles in a conference proceedings volume before you create the records for each article.

The Data Entry Template

What follows is a full list of all fields in our current SPT template. For information about a field while editing a record, place the cursor on the label of the field and a brief description will appear.

THL Resource

This is a simple "yes" or "no" option list that specifies whether the item in question is a resource available within THL. This includes all THL projects, essays, and the like, as well as any articles or books that may be stored and delivered within THL.

Title: text (REQUIRED FIELD).

This is the title of a print resource (book, journal, etc.), a website, or a digital resource (music CD, video, etc.). Enter the title as it appears in the resource, but utilizing the following guidelines:

  • use regular font (not italics, except for titles that appear within titles).
  • use standard capitalization scheme for titles: capitilize everything except for articles and prepositions. For titles of Tibetan texts, capitalize only the first letter. See below for more details on entering Tibetan text titles.
  • do not put article titles in quotation marks.
  • do not put a space before colons or semi-colons.
  • for a website, the title is generally the title presented by the website itself. However, if there is no title, the bibliographer creates a title (as short and descriptive as possible) and encloses it in square brackets to indicate that it is a bibliographer-generated title.
  • Titles of Tibetan Texts:
    Enter the title in Tibetan first using the unicode font, followed by the same title in wylie. The actual title of a Tibetan text is often long and not easily identified as corresponding to the short title by which it is commonly known. Our practice is to normalize to shorter titles in the “title” field, and enter the lengthier titles within the “alternate title” field. Example: the full title of an important Tibetan tantric commentary is དཔལ་གསང་བའི་སྙིང་པོ་དེ་ཁོ་ན་ཉིད་ངེས་པའི་རྒྱུད་ཀྱི་འགྲེལ་པ་གསང་བདག་དགོངས་རྒྱན། (dpal gsang ba’i snying po de kho na nyid nges pa’i rgyud kyi ’grel pa gsang bdag dgongs rgyan/), but this is commonly referred to by the abbreviated title གསང་བདག་དགོངས་རྒྱན། (gsang bdag dgongs rgyan/). In this case, the abbreviated title gsang bdag dgongs rgyan/ is entered in the “title” field and the full title is entered in the “alternate title” field (and English translations would then be entered in the “Title in translation” and “Alternate title in translation” fields, respectively).
    If the resource is a Tibetan text reprinted with an English title on its cover (example: The Seven Treasuries of Longchenpa), enter the Tibetan title in the "title" field and the English title from the cover in the “alternate title” field.
  • Translations:
    If the resource is a translation, the author of the original work is entered as the author/creator and the translator is entered as the translator. The title of the resource (which is the title of the translation) goes in the "Title" field. The title in the original language goes in the Title in Other Language field, and the original language goes in the Other Language field.
    Example: George N. Roerich’s Blue Annals, which is a translation of ’gos lo tsA ba gzhon nu dpal’s deb ther sngon po, is catalogued this way:
  • Title: Blue Annals
  • Language of Title: English
  • Title in Other Language: དེབ་ཐེར་སྔོན་པོ། (deb ther sngon po/)
  • Other Language: Tibetan
    …
  • Author/Creator: Gös Lotsawa Zhönnupel (’gos lo tsA ba gzhon nu dpal/)
  • Translator: George N. Roerich
    …
  • Language: English
  • Original Language: Tibetan

Language of title: option list with choices of language.

Function: to specify the language in which the title is written.
For a title in a langage such as Sanskrit or Tibetan, even if transliterated or Phoneticized into the Latin alphabet, that language should be given as the language of the title even if the resource is in another language (the main language of the resource, such as English, can be entered as the language of the resource). For example, an article in English on the understanding of Buddhist concepts by various schools is titled: “Nirvana: Sunyata: Vijnaptimatrata”. The language of the title is Sanskrit and the language of the resource is English.

Title in other language: free text.

This allows for foreign language works/titles to be rendered into English for easy reference by an international audience. If the resource being catalogued is itself a translation, then the original title goes in this field. Unfortunately the lack of repeatability of these fields makes it impossible to do multiple translations.

Other language: option list with choices of language.

Function: to specify the language into which the title has been translated or, if the resource is a translation, to specify the original language.

Alternate Title: text.

See note above under “title” concerning full titles and short titles. This is where, for example, the full Tibetan title would go if it is a long title (in which case the a shorter, normalized title is entered in the TITLE field).

Language of alternate title: option list with choices of language.

Function: to specify the language of the alternate title.

Alternate title in translation: text.

Language of translated alternate title: option list with choices of language.

Function: to specify the language into which the alternate title has been translated.

Original/Translation: option list with three choices (Original, Translation, and Both).

This indicates whether the resource is an original work or a translation. An example of a resource that is a book that contains both an edition of the original text as well as a translation or an audio file of a Tibetan giving a talk in Tibetan with a translator who is translating it into English.

Author/Creator(s): controlled name.

Enter these in the format First Name Last Name, following the guidelines outlined above in the instructions for the Controlled Name field, paying particular attention to the discussion of Tibetan names.

If working with Asian names in the Latin alphabet (this is particularly relavent for resources such as South Asian English language journals), check for a controlled name for the person. If there is no controlled name, enter the name as it appears in the resource. Then in the variant name field, list the name in the following formats if available: LOC Authority Heading, THL Phonetic Tibetan with EWTS in parantheses (for Tibetan names), transliteration with diacritics (for South Asian names). The fact that these renderings do not display unicode is a problem that will be dealt with in the future. For example, the name of an occasional contributor to the Bulletin of Tibetology is given in the periodical as: Acharya Samten Gyatso Lepcha. If no controlled name exists, create a controlled name: Acharya Samten Gyatso Lepcha, and list as varient names: ¯Ats¯arya Bsam-gtan-rgya-mtsho Leb-ca; Acharya Samten Gyatso Lepcha (A tsarya bsam gtan rgya mtsho leb ca). For Chinese authors enter Pinyin followed by Chinese characters in parentheses.

The author/creator is not always easy to determine for websites since if it is a complex website with many contributors, the “author/creator” could be the organization itself. For example, the author of THL websites is the corporate entity THL. For the University of Virginia Library, the author/creator would be “University of Virginia Library.” Thus, when a website is not just one or several people clearly identified, the organization should be cataloged as the author/creator. When it is impossible to ascertain the name of either the person or organization in charge of the website, leave it blank. For an essay or gallery, of course it would the author/photographer; for a music CD the performer, etc. NOTE: our convention is to SPELL OUT acronyms and then put the acronym in parentheses. Thus, for the author/creator for a bibliographic record for THL the author/creator is: Tibetan & Himalayan Library (THL).

One Sentence Summary: text.

A one sentence summary of the resource. Try to be succinct but also cover the essentials which someone may want to know about this type of resource, as well as this resource in particular. For example, for a dictionary this single line names it as a dictionary, specifies the languages covered in the right order, cites any topical focus, & alludes to its significance.

Description: text (REQUIRED FIELD).

This is not a critical review of the resource (critical reviews go in the “review” field), but rather a straightforward synoptic description of the resource. The description should be written for the general user and not for the specialist. For example, the description for Helmet Eimer’s article “On the Structure of the Tibetan Kanjur” should at least indicate that it is about Tibetan Buddhist canonical texts and collections (and should not simply state that it is about the Tibetan Kangyur). Certainly mention should be made of the Kangyur in the description, but this cannot be the entire description.

When cataloging a number of similiar types of resources, you may consider creating a standard internal structure for their description, with each component labeled with a bold face label. For example, for describing dictionaries, the following structure might be used:

  • Scope: this indicates the coverage of the dictionary in terms of what types of terms it covers (Lhasan spoken, medical, general, etc.) and also indicates the extent and depth of coverage. Mention # of terms if known. Regardless, refer to its general length herein as “brief”, “average length”, “lengthy”, etc. so that the scope indicates how substantial a resource it is.
  • Value & Limitations: this indicates the value of this dictionary and precisely how it can be useful for a researcher. It additionally expresses the quality of the work both positive and negative.
  • Organization: this indicates what categories of information are covered for a single entry, and outlines clearly the format of each dictionary entry.
  • Pedigree: what dictionaries did it call upon (predecessors) and what later dictionaries drew upon it (SUCCESSORS).
  • Notes: any other type of notes go here.

At the end of the description the creator of the record should put her/his name and the date in parentheses in the following format:

(Editor’s Name YYYY-MM-DD)

If the original description has been revised, the format is: (editor’s name YYYY-MM-DD; revised by Reviser’s Name YYYY-MM-DD). Example:

(Jann Ronis 2003-12-19; revised by Steven Weinberger 2004-01-23).

This helps to inform the user’s evaluation of the description in terms of the identity of the description’s creator.

Any other significant information should also be entered in the description field. An example is a book whose title is in English but whose content is in Tibetan, in which case you would add: “Content of book is in Tibetan although title is in English.” An example of such a resource is Selected Writings (gsung thor bu) of Rong-zom Chos-kyi-bzang-po.

Author's abstracts or publisher's description can also be added. These should follow the SPT editors description when there is one. Descriptions taken from outside sources should be prefaced by the source type in bold and a colon. For example:

  • Creator's Description: for article or dissertation abstracts written by the author.
  • Publisher's Description: for a description provided by the publisher, or description given on the back of a book.
  • Website's Description: for a description of a website given on the website itself.

Editor(s): controlled name.

For complex web sites of multiple authors, this would be whoever is listed as principally in charge – often listed as the “director,” “editor-in-chief,” and so forth.

Translator(s): controlled name.

Contributor(s): controlled name.

For edited volumes, this lists out all the authors; for websites with many participants, this lists the key participants.

Publisher(s): controlled name.

For websites, if a large website like THL is involved and one of its participant web resources is being cited, then “Tibetan & Himalayan Library (THL)” should be listed as the publisher (again, spell out the name and put the initials/acronym in parentheses). However, it is not so clear in other contexts. When the page is a personal page and/or is simply published by an individual, enter the person’s name here. When a page is hosted by an organization that in turn is hosted by a broader organization, both are listed separated by a period and a space (standard library cataloging practice). For example: Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library. Australian National University.

Publisher Place: free text.

This simply describes exactly how the publisher place is specified in the book itself. If just a city is specified, that is all that goes in this field. If city and region (or country) is specified, the format is: City, Region, with NO punctuation at the end of the data. Example:

Albany, New York

If the region is abbreviated in the book itself, then that is what you enter. Example:

Albany, NY

Normalized Publisher Place: controlled name.

This standardizes publishing references. Thus, for example, Tibetan publisher places are put into external link: THL Simplified Phonetics if they are Tibetan places, in Pinyin if they are Chinese places, and so forth. It is essential that you enter the data with a comma and space between the city and the region, and NO punctuation after the region. If no region is given in the book itself and there is no apparent region, then just enter the city (example: Paris).

Publisher Country: option list.

This specifies the country/nation of the publisher. If the country is not in the dropdown menu, notify the general editor and he will add it. For pre-modern publications, we have to figure out what to do.

Publisher URL: text.

Enter the entire URL, beginning with http://.//Note: as of February 2004 SPT does not display the Publisher URL as a link in “Full Record” view. Therefore, you should mark it up with anchor tags in this way, using the TBRC homepage (www.tbrc.org) as an example:
<a href="http://www.tbrc.org" target="_blank">http://www.tbrc.org</a>.

Published Date: date and timestamp field.

This should be entered in the standard format YYYY-MM-DD. It is also possible to enter a partial date such as YYYY-MM or an open-ended (continuing) date such as YYYY- to indicate a continuing publication and the date it began. If the resource was published over a specific period of time and publication has ended, use the format YYYY-YYYY. If the resource was published and then republished, use the format YYYY,YYYY to indicate the year of both the publication and the republication. Use the format [YYYY] to indicate a date of publication drawn from outside the resource being described.

The publication date for websites refers to the year the resource being cataloged was created, published, or otherwise made available. However, in practice the creation date is difficult to find. Most websites don’t specify a launch date separate from a last modified date, and many only have a copyright date that is changed each year to reflect the current year. Note: we need to add the functionality of indicating a century (18th century) or range of centuries (11th-12th centuries).

Note to administrators: early on Jann cataloged all sites he didn’t have references for as “2000” while David used “0000,” which evidently is rendered as blank (but it doesn’t work well). These need to be fixed. Since the advanced search menu for the “date issued” field has a dropdown menu that lists every year from 1995-2003 plus 0000, one can’t use 9999 or some other odd number that can later be searched for and then fixed.

Published Date Note: text.

This documents any notations about the published date, including non-international dates (such as Tibetan Fire Mouse year or whatever).

Edition: text.

For a text, this provides a description of the edition. For example, a Tibetan text from the Karmapa edition of the Degé Kangyur would say: “This is from the Karmapa edition of the Degé Kangyur, which was edited in Delhi.”

URL: text.

This provides the web address for the resource if it is available online. This is of course necessary for THL resources.

Format: the full URL, beginning with http://, because www. … is not enough for the database to know how to hyperlink users to the site. For websites, enter the URL. When the resource is an internal component of a larger site, the URL if possible directs the user directly to the relevant resource. When not possible, the title indicates how a user proceeds from the given URL to the relevant resource. For a print resource, this could be a link to a home page for the journal/book, online etext editions/reproductions of the journal/book/article, and so forth. Note: as of February 2004 SPT does not display the URL as a link in “Full Record” view (although it does display it as a link in the abbreviated view of browsing and searches). Do not mark it up as an anchor tag; this will not display correctly.

Composition date (western/international date): date and timestamp field.

This is a crucial item for pre-modern texts where the “publication date” may be modern, but the composition date is what is really important – and which may not be at all clear. Thus, for example, in the OED-style historical dictionary project, citations will be viewed by composition date to see the history of a term.

Composition date note (western/international date): text.

This provides details about the composition date, including sources for it, a discussion of difficulties, and non-international dates used in calculating the international date.

Composition date (non-international date): text.

This provides dates in formats other than YYYY-MM-DD, such as fire-tiger year, etc.

Composition date note (non-international date): text.

This provides details about the non-international composition date, including sources for it, discussion of difficulties, etc.

Extent

This covers the number of units an item has (volumes of book, # of CDs, etc.), the length (number of pages; minutes of a CD, video, or audio file), and finally the size of a book, with each measure separated by semi-colons (remember to insert a space before semi-colons). The format is to specific units, then length, and then size, using the appropriate abbreviations. The size of a book is always in centimeters (cm), and duration is always in minutes (min.). The following conventions are used for resources in various media:

  • For a book consisting of two volumes that measure 18 cm in length and have 456 pages: 2 v. (456 p.) ; 18 cm
  • For a music resource consisting of three CDs that together total 55 minutes in length: 3 CDs (55 min.)
  • For a video that consists of two videocassettes of 60 minutes each: 2 videocassettes (120 min.)
  • For a resource consisting of two DVDs of 60 minutes each: 2 DVDs (120 min.)
  • For a video resource consisting of 3 MPG files that total 21 minutes: 3 MPGs (21 min.)

Subject(s): controlled name.

Subjects are HIGHLY specific – for instance, the name Longchenpa (klong chen pa), a place name, a text title, and so forth. While subjects are extremely specific and non-hierarchical, classifications are broader and hierarchical. Note: more than one subject can be attached to a given record, as appropriate. Records will frequently have multiple subjects.

Classification(s): controlled name.

This is one of the most important fields, since it identifies the item and locates it within a hierarchal tree of thematic classifications. These constitute the browseable set of nested categories that classify similar resources based upon content; users can then browse this nested hierarchy to locate similar or related resources. Note: more than one classification can be attached to a given record, as appropriate. Records will frequently have multiple classifications.

Like all controlled names, both existing and new classifications can be added to a record by clicking on the “Add More Classifications” button. Searching on an asterisk or a single space will return a list of all classifications, an unlimited number of which can be selected and assigned to the record. These results will be displayed as a list and not as a hierarchical tree.

You can also add and edit classifications through Metadata Tool > Add/Edit Classifications. This function allows you to browse through the entire classification hierarchy as a hierarchical tree and to edit any existing classifications or add sub-classifications at any point. In practice, as you get used to the classification schemes you can type in words like “literature” that will return a group of related classifications so you can select multiple classifications in one step.

  • Classifying journals: all records for journals, journal issues, and journal articles must be classified under a respective journal classification. For example, the record for the journal Bulletin of Tibetology would be classified under: Tibetan and Himalayan -- Journals -- Journals Focused on Regions -- Tibet. Records created for individual issues would be classified under: Tibetan and Himalayan -- Journals -- Journals Focused on Regions -- Tibet -- Bulletin of Tibetology. Records for individual articles would then be classified under the respective issue in which they were printed, such as: Tibetan and Himalayan -- Journals -- Journals Focused on Regions -- Tibet -- Bulletin of Tibetology -- 2004, vol. 40, no. 1.

Genre(s): controlled name.

This is the type of literature. For Tibetan literature, the categories mirror those of the external link: THL Tibetan literary genres typology.

Keyword(s): controlled vocabulary.

This is used for very specific references that are too particular for the creation of a thematic classification, such as the name of a village, a specific institution, and so forth.

Cultural coverage: option list.

Includes Tibet, Nepal, Tibet and Himalayas, Kashmir, China, and others. This analyzes primarily the content of the item in terms of cultural coverage expressed in terms of cultures and NOT national boundaries (though in many cases they are identical at the broad level for which this is being used – we can expand cultural coverage as the project evolves). For websites, it classifies the content focus of the site, and not the geographical locus of the people running the site. For example, a modern Tibetan language work about Chinese culture would be classified as “China” in the Cultural coverage field, but NOT “Tibet.” A site presenting life in America done by Tibetans and in Tibetan language would be classified as “America”; if it also focused on the Tibetan experience of the US, it would also be classified as “Tibetan.” Otherwise it would be a useless category, and all American publications would need to be classified as Cultural coverage=America, which is NOT the intent. However, for classical Tibetan literature they are mostly classified as Cultural coverage=Tibet since the religious systems and so forth discussed are Tibetan in character.

This allows users to filter through a given thematic classification to only see those that concern the cultural regions they are interested in. At a later date, we may add additional categories so that sites can be indexed according to cultural subregions, such as Kham (khams), Amdo (a mdo), Ngari (mnga’ ris), Ütsang (dbus gtsang), and so forth for Tibet. However it would still be included within THL’s bibliographies as a Tibetan project. Hence will most likely need to greatly expand the list of regions to deal with these issues as bibliographers bring specific cases to our attention.

  • Bhutan: this corresponds to the modern nation of Bhutan and its historical predecessors
  • Nepal: at present, Nepal is being used to refer to the modern nation-state of Nepal and its predecessors. Of course much of northern Nepal is culturally Tibetan; in those cases the site should be classified as concerning both “Nepal” and “Tibet”
  • Tibet: “Tibet” here is not limited to any political entity, but rather covers the entirety of cultural Tibet, as well as all the political entities that historically existed in areas dominated by Tibetan populations
  • Tibet and Himalayas: this is for resources that deal with the entire area

Temporal coverage: option list.

Ranging from from the 6th century BCE to the 21st century CE. There is also an item for pre-6th century BCE dates. We have not used named periods such as “renaissance,” “civil war” and so forth both because we are using this scheme for multiple cultures rather than just one culture (such as Tibetan), and because periodization is not well established in Tibetan history.

Language: option list of languages.

This describes the language in which the resource (monograph, journal, edited volume, newspaper, etc.) is written. If, for instance, some articles in a single issue of a journal are in English and some are in German, then both languages should be selected. This allows for searches to find or ignore resources in specific languages.

Original Language: option list of languages.

If the resource is a translation from another language, this indicates the language of the original work.

Interface Language: option list of languages.

This is intended chiefly for websites, and specifies the language of the interface used to navigate the site, regardless of what type of content it may contain. For example, a site may have extensive Chinese content, but if all the menus and the interface are written in English, “English” would be selected from the Interface Language option list. This allows people to filter out (or in) websites with an interface in a language they can’t (or can) understand. Just having electronic texts or other materials in a given language is not relevant; the issue is the language of the interface. While this is primarily for bibliographic records of websites, it could also be applied to other media. For a music CD, for example, the interface language might be the language of the label.

Series Title(s): controlled name.

This is used when, for example, a book is part of a broader series. Series can change titles so in the Series Title controlled name use “Variant Name” as appropriate. It is possible for a volume to be part of more than one series. Example: A Survey of Bonpo Monasteries and Temples in Tibet and the Himalaya, which is volume 38 of the Senri Ethnographical Reports series and is also volume 7 of the Bon Studies series. In such cases, enter the data for each series in a separate set of series fields (series title, series editor, series volume).

Series Editor(s): controlled name.

Series Volume: text.

Enter the volume number of the book in the series.

Source: text.

This is used when the item being cataloged is part of a bigger unit, such as an article from a journal, a chapter from an edited volume with multiple authors, and so forth. The Source identifies the title of the larger work (journal, book, etc.). One question is how to use it for websites. For a large website like THL, it could be that when one of its projects is cited that the Source=THL, but then we can also use the Publisher field for that.

Source Type: option list.

Conference proceedings, collected volumes (single author), collected volumes (book with individually authored chapters, including translations), journal, magazine, newspaper, periodical, website.

Source Editor(s): controlled name.

Source Volume: text.

This is used especially for journals to cite the volume number (whereas Source Number records the number within a volume).

Source Number: text.

This is used especially for journals to cite the number within a volume (whereas Source Volume records the volume number).

Source Page Numbers: text.

This provides the page numbers for the item within the journal/ book in which the article/ chapter appears.

Start Date: date and timestamp field.

This is specifically for use in cataloging journals as journals, or for series, and indicates the start date for the journal/series as such. Enter the month if available. Use format YYYY or YYYY-MM.

End Date: date and timestamp field.

This is specifically for use in cataloging journals as journals, or for series, and indicates the end date for the journal/series as such. Enter the month if available. Use format YYYY or YYYY-MM. If the resource being catalogued is still being published, leave this field blank.

Frequency of Publication: option list.

Daily, weekly, monthly, more than four times a year, four times a year, twice a year, three times a year, once a year, irregular. This is specifically for use in cataloguing journals, series, and newspapers, and indicates how frequently in a year it appears. If a publication has gone through several frequencies of publication, give the current frequency.

Frequency of Publication Note: text.

If a publication has gone through several frequencies of publication, they can be listed here. For example: "Once a year, 1980-1985 and 1992; Three times a year, 1986-1991 and 1993- ", for a journal was published once a year from 1980-1985, but then switched to three publications a year, except for 1992, when only one issue was published.

Submissions: text.

This is primarily intended for journals and describes their submissions policy along with a contact address to submit items to them.

Table of Contents: text.

This allows editors to type in the table of contents of a book, journal, CD (a list of songs for a music CD), and so forth. The individual units of the resource (chapters, songs, etc.) are separated by a space followed by two dashes followed by a space. For a work in which the individual units (chapters, songs, etc.) are by different authors, the title is given first, followed by a space, followed by a slash, followed by a space, followed by the author’s name, followed by a space, followed by two dashes, followed by the title of the next chapter, etc. The capitalization scheme for titles in the table of contents is the same as for the title of the record: only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized (note: always end the table of contents entry with a period). The following formats are used for their respective specific cases:

For chapters of a book whose chapters all have the same author(s):
Title of chapter one - - Title of chapter two - - Title of chapter three.
Note: there is a space both before and after each set of double dashes

For chapters by different authors:
Title of chapter one / David Germano - - Title of chapter two / Erin Stalberg - - Title of chapter three / Leslie Johnston.
Note: the “/” separates the title from the author, and there is a space both before and after the slash

For a work that has more than one structural division (for example, a book with both parts and chapters), the larger divisions are separated by two dashes, the smaller divisions are separated by semi-colons, and the larger division is separated from the smaller divisions by a colon (remember to leave a space both before and after the colons and semi-colons):
Pt. 1 : Title of chapter one / Author ; Title of chapter two / Author ; Title of chapter three / Author - -
pt. 2 : Title of chapter four / Author ; Title of chapter five / Author ; Title of chapter six / Author.
Note: only the first “Pt.” is capitalized.

If a work has more than one structural division (for example, parts and chapters) and many smaller divisions, add the numbers for the smaller divisions if it is helpful. For example:
Pt. 1 : 1. Title / Author ; 2. Title / Author ; 3. Title / Author - - pt. 2: 4. Title / Author ; 5. Title / Author ; 6. Title / Author.

If the parts have their own titles:
Pt. 1. Title of pt. 1 : 1. Title of chapter 1 / Author ; 2. Title of chapter 2 / Author etc.

ISBN/ISSN: text.

Enter the ISBN for books, ISSN for journals. Enter only the numbers and drop all dashes.

LOC: text.

These are Library of Congress ID numbers used widely by scholars for texts purchased through the PL480 program. They may or may not be the same as LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number). The first two or four digits are the year processed, the next three are a country code, and the last three are an accessions number.

Location and access number: text.

This is intended for use with manuscripts in particular, to provide the location and access number within that location for the item.

Means of availability: text.

This is particularly useful for items which may be very difficult to purchase, or are long out of print. It can also include subscription information for a journal or newspaper. Be clear and detailed. Try to use language such as the following to be consistent:

  • Available within THL.
  • Available online for free.
  • Available online for fee.
  • Available at the following library or archive:
  • Available for purchase at…
  • Out of print.
  • This book is very hard to come by…
  • etc.

Compiler(s): controlled name.

Illustrator(s): controlled name.

Annotator(s): controlled name.

Other Agent: text.

If the template does not already have the specific category for an agent, enter that data in this field. If the type of agent is not listed in the “other agent type” option list, editors should contact external link: general editor and request that it be added. If certain types of agents are repeatedly cataloged, we will consider adding them to the template as a new field. For example, if a book has authors specified, but then also says “with the assistance of Joe Schmoe,” you would then add “Joe Schmoe” in the “Other agent” field.

Other Agent Type: option list.

Director, performer, reviewer, provider of assistance. This describes the function of the “Other agent.” If the function you want is not in the option list, contact the external link: general editor and request that it be added.

Other Editions: text.

This allows editors to describe the history of other editions of the text. Every edition of a given text should have its own separate bibliographical record

Note: there is a “Duplicate Resource Record” button at both the top and bottom of a record that can be used to make a copy of a given record which you can then rename, change the fields that need to be changed and keep the fields that are the same, thereby simplifying the process of making individual records for multiple editions of a single text.

The “other editions” and “relation” field are then used to cross-reference multiple editions of a single text, etc. The following is an example of the format, using as a hypothetical example the two records below. The Resource ID (that is, the record number) for the first record is 78, and the Resource ID for the second record is 95. The relevant section of the first record (ID=78) would be:

Title: Anglo American cataloging rules
Edition: 1st ed.
Other editions: <a href="http://datastore.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/spt/SPT- -FullRecord.php?ResourceId=95" target="_blank">Anglo American cataloging rules, 2nd ed.</a>
Note: there should be no space between the two dashes, but for display purposes it was necessary to insert one in this document.
Relation: Resource ID 95

The relevant section of the second record (ID= 95) would be:

Title: Anglo American cataloging rules
Edition: 2nd ed.
Other editions: <a href="http://datastore.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/spt/SPT- -FullRecord.php?ResourceId=78" target="_blank">Anglo American cataloging rules, 1st ed.</a>
Note: there should be no space between the two dashes, but for display purposes it was necessary to insert one in this document.
Relation: Resource ID 78

You will need to get the unique ID of the first record to insert into the “relation” field in the second record. To do this, search for the title of the record and after it is found, click on “Full Record.” When the record appears, look at the URL. At the end of the URL you will find “ResourceId=” and then a number. This number is the Resource ID (that is, the record #). Enter it in the “Relation” field. You will also need to create an HTML hyperlink to the first record in the “Other editions” field, but this is not difficult. Copy the following and paste at the beginning of the title in the “Other editions” field: <a href="http://datastore.lib.virginia.edu/tibet/spt/SPT- -FullRecord.php?ResourceId=#" target="_blank"> (note: there should be no space between the two dashes, but for display purposes it was necessary to insert one in this document). Then replace # with the actual Resource ID number (just the Arabic numeral itself). Then, at the very end of the text in the “Other editions” field, add the following: </a>. After you have finished creating the second record, note its ResourceID. Then be sure to go into the first record and add the information about the second record into the “Other editions” and “Relation” fields.
When using an excel sheet to import entires, the SPT import mechanism will not differentiate between two works of the same title (regardless of edition). Therefore, when making entries with multiple editions, it is important to initially change the title of the entry (e.g. by adding 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. after the title for each edition in the excel sheet), and then remove this change after import when adding the links.

Access rights: text.

This specifies any issues pertaining to restrictions on access – is a website open to the public, restricted, or only available for commercial access? Likewise for texts, they may be restricted to initiates of a teaching, a free text given away by a foundation, or a commercially sold text.

Associated Information: text.

This is designed to point to associated files such as longer essays on the piece (both inside and outside of THL). Editors should list items along with either URLs or bibliographical citations. Another possible use if you do not have full bibliographical information or even a copy, but only know of the item’s existence because of its citation in another work, you can specify that here along with the source of the citation.

This field can also be used to link a journal article that was printed in parts in two or more issues of a journal. For example, an article in the journal Kailash on the history of Nepal was printed in two parts in separate issues of the journal. The bibliographic information on the other part of the article should be given here. Similarly, an addendum to an article that is printed in a subsequent issue of a journal can also be noted in this field.

Project: text.

If the resource is being cataloged as part of a particular project, this identifies the project. Examples: Tibetan Monastery Project, Kangyur/Tengyur Project, Sera Hermitages Project, and so forth.

To enter two or more projects for a given resource, use &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; tags around each project. Example: a resource is part of both the Sera Monastery Project and the Sera Hermitages Project. The entry in the Project field looks like this:

&lt;p&gt;Sera Monastery Project&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Sera Hermitages Project&lt;/p&gt;

Format: option list.

Three choices: Non-print media (tape, CD, local database, etc.), Online resource, Print media (print or manuscript, including PDFs). We might eventually want to make this more granular – breaking down non-print media into sub-categories such as DVD, CD, etc. At present, "non-print media' covers anything databases only released in local form; anything available on the internet is an "online resource". However, if an originally print resource is now available on a PDF distributed online, that remains classified as a "print media" format.

Resource Type: option list.

Announcements, article, book (single author), collected volume (individually authored chapters), collection, conference proceedings, dataset, diaries-letters, dictionary, dissertation, documentary, encyclopedia, glossary, image, interactive resource, interviews, journal (academic), magazine, manuscripts, maps, movies (cinematic), music, news broadcasts, newspapers, series, service, television shows.

Media Type: option list.

Animation, audio, image, immersive visual objects, software, text, video.

Digital encoding: option list.

asf, flash, html, jpeg, mp3, mpeg-1, mpeg-4, pdf, plain, qtvr, rtf, sgml, tiff, vrml, xml. This field applies only to digital media. This may be used to determine the software, hardware, or other equipment needed to display or operate the resource. The default values are selections from the list of Internet Media Types (MIME) defining computer media formats.

Published reviews: text.

Review: text.

Always add in parentheses at the end of the review the reviewer’s name and date, in the form (Reviewer’s Name YYYY-MM-DD). If a review is later revised, this data needs to be added to reviewer credit in the following format:

(Jann Ronis 2003-12-19; revised by Steve Weinberger 2004-01-19)

However, reviews should NOT be casually modified without consulting with the original reviewer. This also helps the user judge the reliability of the annotation in terms of the identity of the annotator.

Reader Rating: option list.

Essential, very useful, useful, modest interest, limited interest. This indicates the level of importance attached to the content and utility of a given resource by the bibliographer. This rating is used in displaying results for a given category, so that users are provided a guide as to the relative importance and density of the sites listed. The important thing to keep in mind is that the rating classifies sites in accordance with online functions. The subject of the resource– a monastery, author, products, or whatever – may be of extreme importance, but the assessment as to its rating is based on the utility and importance of the resource as such. An example is a Web site that sells several wonderful resources but does not offer any content online and is not a vendor for a wide array of resources. Thus, it will not receive a high rating. However, a commercial site that offers thousands of books for sale might receive an “essential” rating based on its capacity as a commercial vendor. Every review has a date. We welcome the site administrators, or anyone else, to call attention to errors, bias, dated material or any other problems with a given review.

Release Flag: option list.

Two choices – OK for viewing, Not OK for viewing. This is a required field; the default is set at “OK,” and the software automatically makes this selection, so the bibliographer does not have to do anything for this field. “OK for Viewing” means that upon submission the record will be available for public view.

THL Workflow Issues

This is an option list that we can use to track broad categories of items that require further work. For example, we are importing 30,000 items from a database provided by Gregor Verhufen – they may all require work and checking. We would release them into the public view, but then we want someway over time to keep track of whether we have or have not checked over any given item. Thus I made an option that says “Gregory DB Needs processing”. The default option is “No Known Issues”. In addition, if someone wants to put a few titles in that don’t have bibliographical data so a staff member can then fill out, they can mark as “Partial Entry Needs Completion”. All of this is different from the “public release” flag which determines whether a record shows or not. We might want things to show, but still keep track of the fact that they need further work on them.

Date Of Record Creation: required field.

This provides the date of the creation of the bibliographical record. It is automatically filled in by the program.

Date Record Checked: required field.

This is the date the bibliographical record was last modified. It is automatically filled in by the program.

Added By ID: required field.

This identifies the creator of the record. The program automatically fills in the user ID of the person who created the record. To facilitate easy recognition, editors should create user IDs that consist of the first initial of their first name and their last name, so that their work is clearly and easily identifiable. Example of a user ID:

sweinberger

Last Modified By ID: required field.

The program automatically enters the user ID of the person who created the record in this field.

Fields Not Used

Coverage: text.

This is currently not being used and was inherited from SPT. The intent of this is to cover place and time of the resource. We will replace this with time period and geographical region. We are not using it in the meantime because without a controlled name in option lists it is too chaotic. It was a field that came with SPT and remains in the database but is not enabled for use at present.

Provided for unrestricted use by the external link: Tibetan and Himalayan Library