THL Toolbox > Places & Geography > THL Place Dictionary
The THL Tibetan & Himalayan Place Dictionary
Contributor(s): David Germano.
Introduction
The basis of all place documentation in THL is the Place Dictionary, which is an index of place names recording all their variant forms, latitude/longitude (GIS information), relationship to other places (such as location within a given township and so forth), and a short summary paragraph description. The Place Dictionary has an online editorial interface, though it is possible to work off line in various formats and then import the data.
- THL Place Dictionary Editor’s Manual
- THL Place Dictionary Submissions by Spreadsheet Instructions
- THL Participatory Tibetan Township Documentation Project
- THL Tourism Site Assessment Tool
- Tibetan Community Tourism Principles
- THL Place Dictionary End User Manual
- THL Place Dictionary Shape Files Importation Manual
- THL Place Dictionary DB Search and Replace
- Importing XML Books into the Place Dictionary
THL Place Encyclopedia Extensions - Templates and Instructions for In-Depth Descriptions of Specific Types of Features: The THL Place Dictionary provides a way to describe places in Tibet and the Himalayas in a general way according to characteristics common to all types of geographic features - mountains, polities, cities, temples, cultural regions, and so forth. The THL Place Encyclopedia then provides structured ways to describe specific types of features - a monastery, a polity, etc. - in more specific and in-depth manners tailor made for that kind of feature. For details, consult the following sections. Each provides guidelines for how to proceed with a structured description of the feature in question. Ultimately, the technology for this will be integrated into the Place Dictionary infrastructure.
- Archaeological Sites Database
- Monasteries Database
- Historical Polities Database
- Contemporary Administrative Units
In the future, we hope to provide:
- Neighborhoods in a City
- Administrative Regions
- Tourism Destinations.
Outdated Documentation
We are currently in the process of transferring to a new system to an old system, and the process of transition is not complete. While this process is underway, we are preserving the older documentation for reference purposes. The Place Dictionary was formerly referred to as the "Gazetteer", which is why that term is used below. This includes various input methods that are not currently being used, but which have yet to be replaced. Please note that the Filemaker Pro datebases for data entry are provided in two forms. The "dependent" form requires Filemaker Pro to be owned and used; in addition, if you need to make changes to the database, you must download the "dependent" form and apply changes to it. The "stand-alone" forms can be used by any user for free and do not require the purchase of FileMaker Pro. However, you cannot change the database structure at all, though you can add data to the extant structure. The creation of such "stand-alone" Filemaker Pro databases can only be done by the more expensive versions of Filemaker Pro, not the standard versions.
- Gazetteer User Guide
- Gazetteer DTD Decoded for Dummies
- Gazetteer FileMaker Editorial Manual (updated June 21, 2004)
MS Word gazetteer input system- Windows Filemaker-dependent gazetteer input system if you have FileMaker Pro 5 Windows; .zip file (428Kb), updated March 5, 2004; The main file is called "GazEntryForm.fp5".
- Mac Filemaker-dependent gazetteer input system if you have FileMaker Pro 5 Mac; .sit file (350Kb), updated March 5, 2004.
- Windows Filemaker stand-alone gazetteer input system if you don't have FileMaker Pro 5; .zip file (2.7Mb), updated March 12, 2004 - you will need to unzip the file and then run "Gazetteer-Entry.EXE".
- Mac Filemaker stand-alone gazetteer input system if you don't have FileMaker Pro 5; .sit file (2Mb), updated March 5, 2004.
- This Standalone - FileMaker Pro development form is not for public use 2007_THL_GazDataEntry.zip