Welcome to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeaology and Anthropology! The UPenn Museum is home to nearly one million objects. Many of our objects were given to the musuem through expeditions, field excavations, and anthropolgoical research.
We are happy to see that you have decided to join our team! You have been selected to work with the cataloging unit.
[[Are you ready to start?|Day One]]
All images and information are from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeaology and Anthropology open dataset of all objects in the Americas Collection. Here we are, in the cataloging unit. This is where we create catalog records. Catalog records allows researchers and museum staff to get all the informaiton about any object they need in one place.
A catalog record includes an object a name, the location of where the object came from, and provides a description of the object. As our new Cataloger, we wil have you add names to object, locations to objects, and descritptions to objects.
Where do you want to start?
[[Name an Object|Choice One- Names]]
[[Add an object location|Choice Two- Locations]]
or
[[Choose an object description|Choice Three-Descriptions]]<pre>(set:$Band to true)</pre>
Let's start naming objects!
This object is described as a piece of a girls costume. The museum purchased it in 1939 and its provience (where it was created) is South Dakota.
<img src= "https://upmaa-pennmuseum.netdna-ssl.com/collections/assets/1600/283557.jpg" width="500" height="300" alt name="unknown object">
Which object name fits best?
[[String|Incorrect]]
[[Band|Correct]]Choosing a provience (location) for an object can be tough. Ideally, the country, region, state, and city should be included as the object's provience. However, that answer is not alway easy to find for many reasons including the country or state may no longer exist or the donor does not know the exact provience. Like object names, in most cases the indigenous name is not included as the provience.
For this object, we have a lot of information that can help us figure out a provience.
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<img src="https://upmaa-pennmuseum.netdna-ssl.com/collections/assets/1600/210437.jpg" width="500" height="300">
This is a Haida Box Lid created by Denny Dixon, a Native American Haida Artist. The lid depicts a wolf and killer whale with decorative fluting around the edges. And we know the object originiates from Queen Charlotte Island, Canada.
Which provience terms would be in the catalog record? Like object names, in most cases the indigenous name is not included as the provience.
[[Queen Charlotte Islands|More Locations]]
[[Haida Gwaii|Incorrect Location]]
Creating a description for an object can be the most fun and hardest task in creating a catalog record. What type of information should be included? Who is the audience or intended researcher? These are questions catalogers constantly ask themselves. Sometimes, catalogers can do further research on an object and provided strong descriptions. Other times, catalogers cannot research an object due to time constraints.
The audience for the UPenn Museum are anthropological and archaeology researchers as well as the general public. The digital collection and Museum is open to the public.
This object is a Huipil blouse from Quiche Region of Guatemala.
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<img src="https://upmaa-pennmuseum.netdna-ssl.com/collections/assets/1600/194925.jpg" width="500" height="300">
So, what description would this blouse have in the catalog record?
[["Woman's blouse of white cotton ground cloth in two panels with chevron and zigzag pattern in white supplementary weft, neck area embroidered with green and purple flower hand stitched embroidery on an added top yolk of commercial cotton. Sleeves of commercial cotton have eyelit edges and pleats."|Correct Description]]
[["Woman's blouse with flowers."|Incorrect Description]]
It's difficult to assign a name to an object if you don't know what it is. Sometimes single objects are part of a larger collection of pieces. In other cases, objects are given names based on who donated it to the museum. In those cases, many of the indigenous objects have English names.
I can see why you thought this was a "String" but other catalogers choose the term "Band". Other catalogers choose the term band because this is a piece of a girl's costume that includes a large leather top, leather skirt, and moccasins.
Would it make more sense to catalog the entire costume as one object or each piece as a stand alone object? This is a question catalogers as themselves all the time.
Not a probelm! There are plenty more objects to [[name|Take Two]].Great job! Other catalogers also chose "Band" as the object's name. They choose this name because this is a piece of a girl's costume that includes a large leather top, leather skirt, and moccasins.
It's difficult to assign a name to an object if you don't know what it is. Sometimes single objects are part of a larger collection of pieces. In other cases, objects are given names based on who donated it to the museum. In those cases, many of the indigenous objects have English names.
That was pretty hard, but this next one will be [[easy|Take Two]].This object was a gift from Mrs. Richard Waln Meirs in 1918. This object originiates from the Pueblo Plains Indians. Materials to create this object include wood and rawhide.
<img src="https://upmaa-pennmuseum.netdna-ssl.com/collections/assets/1600/188977.jpg" width="500" height="300" alt name="drum">
While this object is from the Pueblo Plains, Mrs. Richard Waln Meirs donated the object. It's likely the object was found during an expedition or archaeological dig.
What do you think the object's name is?
[[Drum and Drumstick|Something New]]
[[Canvas and Paint Brush|Something Else]]Correct! This item is a Drum and Drumstick. According to the description, this is a dance drum with a painted human head with outstretched arms.
A current discussion amoung catalogers is using native terms and English terms together in the catalog record. It's likely when this object was cataloged, Mrs. Richard Waln Meirs provived the names of objects donated.
It is also possible that the indigenous name was not included in the orginial catalog record, so when the item was added to the digital collection, only the English name was included.
Let's keep going and learn about how the provience (location) of an object is added to a [[catalog record.|Choice Two- Locations]]?Wonderful! In the catalog record, the provience is Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada. However, the indigenous name for Queen Charlotte Islands is Haida Gwaii. Haida Gwaii is not included as the provience in the catalog record.
According to our records, this item was gifted in 2015 from Robert and Marilyn Forney. It's possible that the Forney's bought this item from Denny Dixon.
Ready for another object [[provience|One More Location]]?In the catalog record, the provience is Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada. However, the indigenous name for Queen Charlotte Islands is Haida Gwaii. Haida Gwaii is not included as the provience in the catalog record.
Why are indigenous names not included in the catalog records?
Let's [[try again|One More Location]]?This one may be a little harder.
This is a woman's skirt made of bright purple fabric with a tie waist, multi-colored woven trim at hem, 3 light fabric bands of trim above hem. The skirt was made in the 1940s.
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<img src="https://upmaa-pennmuseum.netdna-ssl.com/collections/assets/1600/147303.jpg" width="500" height="300">
What do you think the provience is in the catalog record?
[[Peru, Andean Culture]]
[[Inka Empire, Tawantinsuyu]]
Have you noticed a pattern with these catalog records?
I can see why you thought this was a canvas and paintbrush. Unfortunately, this object is actually a drum and drumstick.
A current discussion amoung catalogers is using native terms and English terms together in the catalog record. It's likely when this object was cataloged Mrs. Richard Waln Meirs provived the names of objects donated.
It is also possible that the indigenous name was not included in the orginial catalog record, so when the item was added to the digital collection, only the English name was included.
Let's keep going and learn about how the provience (location) of an object is added to a [[catalog record.|Choice Two- Locations]]?You are catching on! Yes, in the catalog record, the provience is the Adean culture in Peru.
Looks like you are ready for something really [[challenging!|Choice Three-Descriptions]]In the catalog record, the provience is the Adean culture in Peru.
Have you noticed indigenous names are missing from most catalog records?
let's try something [[a little different.|Choice Three-Descriptions]]This is a great description for an audience of researchers. It is very detailed with rich and descriptive terms.
Now this one is really tough. Not all objects have such detailed descriptions.
[[One More Description]]While this description does provide basic information about the object, it could use more details.
However, not all descriptions are as detailed as that one.
[[Let's try it one more time|One More Description]]Not all objects have detailed descriptions. Sometimes descriptions are created by the person who donated the object, a researcher, or the cataloger. The ideal description should be unbiased, include what materials were used, size, color, and/or a history of the object.
For this object, try to pick the practical description. This object is a late classic Maya figure created between 600-900. Robert Burkitt found this object during his 1920 expdeition to Guatemala.
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<img src="https://upmaa-pennmuseum.netdna-ssl.com/collections/assets/1600/108590.jpg" width="100" height=auto>
[[Human figure. Hollow red pottery, some color, fine ornate clothed figure.|Correct Man Description]]
[[Primitive figure holding sacrificial knife for ritual.|Incorrect Man Description]]
Think about what you've learned so far. Have these catalog records shown a bias towards English terms and Western ideas?What a great description! This description, while short, is not bias and included materials used.
What a great first day on the job!
[[Have a wonderful day!]]This description has a bias tone that implies judgement on the culture and creator of the object.
It's been a pretty long first day of cataloging but we hoped you learned some valuable lessons!
[[Have a wonderful day!]]
(set:$name to (prompt:"Your name, please:", "The Cataloger"))
Thanks, $name! You did a great job day and we hope to see more excellent cataloging from you in the future!