Historically, bibliographical classification and indexing systems have concentrated on textually-based materials. More recently, archives and libraries have realized a pressing need to provide intellectual and physical access to visual documents. An institution like the Ohio Historical Society must consider many different tools of access to achieve this goal. The growth of the Internet makes it an attractive conduit for providing access via an electronic index of bibliographical surrogates of the collection. The heart of the index of the bibliographical record. If the search terms selected by the researcher do not match the terms selected by the indexer, the index is a failure. This study addressed methods of anticipating the language and needs of its future users by charting and analyzing past information requests. It also examined the different sources available for generating the controlled vocabulary and bibliographic record format for image collections. Finally, an electronic index was generated and tested by four Ohio Historical Society staff researchers. It was found that the majority of reference requests are very specific, the subject headings of the Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials are the most appropriate for this collection, and the best model for the bibliographic record is the Library of Congress record. Several modifications of these records proved appropriate in the areas of field names and the level of specificity of subject headings.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION

• Rationale for study
• Definition of terms
• Limitations of study

II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

• Unique challenges to cataloging images
  
• Index facets

III. METHODOLOGY

IV. RESULTS

• Analysis of reference requests
  
• Bibliographic record model
  
• Summary

CHAPTER V. TESTING AND SUBJECTS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

• Subjects for further research

APPENDIX A: Civil War Reference Requests, July 1995 - May 1997

• Appendix Aa: Non-Civil War Reference Requests, July 1995 - May 1997

APPENDIX B: Information Only Requests, July 1995 - May 1997

APPENDIX C: Sample Records

APPENDIX D: Bibliography of Civil War Ohio Reference Books

WORKS CITED

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Eric T. Davis