In most cases the data about an image is very brief because the information was taken from the sleeve of the negative which was created for quick identification by Beinekce staff. Most records, then, include only a Beinecke Call Number, Filing Title, and a brief description of the original item (title or author) as well as an unique barcode, the size and type of reproduction from which the scan was made, and Beinecke Filing Title. In recent years, as the file grew, the data on the sleeves became increasingly detailed. Only in 1995 when the whole file was converted into a database was there any attempt to standardize the type of data entered in these records.

Data about a specific image may be recorded in the following fields: Item Author, Item Title, Item Place, Item Date. If the image is part of a larger whole, information about the source is recorded in the appropriate Source fields: Source Author, Source Title, Source Place, Source Date. When the Field Searching features are implemented, refer to the following table to help focus your search strategies.

• Call Number: The complete book call number or the manuscript call number. For images from archival collections, enter ONLY the collection number in this field; enter the box and folder number in the appropriate fields below.

• Box: Enter only the box number in this field.

• Folder: Enter only the folder number in this field.

• Page or Image No.: The page or image number (if applicable). For printed items, the page number may be text (frontispiece, title-page, plate facing p. 345, etc.). For manuscripts and archival collections, this number may also include text (4th image lower right). For pre-1600 manuscripts, pages are conventionally referred to as #r (recto) and #l (verso), the right and left "pages". Example: 2v-3r

• Item Author: Enter the name of the author of the book, artist or photographer, creator of the manuscript here in reverse order just as you would find it in a card catalogue. Distinguish when appropriate between the author of the book (source author) and the creator of an image from the book (item author).

  EXAMPLE: For a negative of an image of a Rackham illustration from J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens", search Barrie, J M in the Source Name field and Rackham, Arthur in the Item Name field. However, Rackham should be entered in the "Item Name" field for the original drawing for what became the published engravings and nothing should be entered in the SOURCE NAME field.

• Item Title: Enter the title of the book, artwork, photograph, engraving, or manuscript in this field. For some manuscript materials and for photographs, the title is descriptive: e.g. "letter to R. W. Gilder", "Denham Notebook", "House of Mirth, 2nd draft" "Edith Wharton with Teddy and dog".

• Item Place: Enter here the place name where the manuscript was written, photograph taken, or the book published.

• Item Date: Enter the date of the manuscript, correspondence, or photograph in this field. For published works, enter the date of publication.

• Source Author: Enter the name of the author reator of an image if different from the author. See example under AUTHOR OF ITEM.

• Source Title: Enter the title of the source of the image.

  EXAMPLE: The Butter Cutters-- a Rackham illustration for "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens" -- is the Description Title as opposed to the Title of the Source -- "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens."

• Source Place: Enter here the place name where the manuscript was written, photograph taken, or the book published.

• Source Date: Enter the publication date of the source of the image.

• Type of Reproduction: Record which type of reproduction you scanned -- b/w negative (4x5, 5x7, 8x10), color transparency (4x5), slide (35mm).

• Notes: Notes about the image that do not fit into the categories above -- e.g. "Dark image" or "detail of lower right corner" or "English translation by Cary"

• Credit Line: The credit line for facsimile reproductions.

• Filing Title: An internal heading on the folder. For most images, this heading will be the collection name (Wharton, Edith), main entry (Author or Title if no author), or call number (for Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and materials in the Western Americana Collection).
  
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  Revised: July23, 2002
  URL:http://www.library.yale.edu/beinecke/brbldldb.htm