Titles: How to Create Them

Titles for Archival Collections

There are standard rules for creating the titles of archival collections in Accession Records and Finding Aids. The official source of these rules is DACS Section 2.3. Rules of thumb are as follows:

• 1. Titles usually consist of: Name of Creator/Collector + Type of Collection + [Optional Topic of Collection] . Examples:

     • John Smith Papers

     • Pacific University Athletics Department Records

     • Eva Guggemos Photographs

     • Harry Johnson Collection on World War II
       

  2. When a collection consists entirely, or almost entirely, of 1 or 2 types of material, put the material in the title. Examples:

     • Eva Guggemos Photographs and Letter

     • Pacific University French Club Research Notes

     • Forest Grove Church Attendance Roster

     • Portland Drug Store Tax Records

     • Henry Huggins Biographical File

     • Sarah P. Pinkerton Writings on Oregon
       

  3. When a collection consists of 3+ types of material, use one of these options: Papers, Collection or Records

     • John Smith Papers:
       "Papers" is used only for the archives of individuals or families. It implies that the individual or family created/collected the material themselves, in the course of their daily lives. A "papers" collection may contain many non-paper items, like videos. Example of a Papers archive.

     • John Smith Collection:
       "Collection" may be used for the archives of an individual, family or organization. It implies that the archive is about that person/organization, but not necessarily created or collected by them, personally. When in doubt whether something should be a "papers" or "collection", use "collection." Example of a Collection archive.

     • John Smith Company Records:
       "Records" may be used for the archives of an organization; typically it is not used for individual people. It implies that these are the records created by the organization itself in the course of its daily business. At Pacific, University departmental archives are usually "Records." Example of a Records archive.
       

  4. Optionally, you can add the topic of the archive, if this is very important to understanding what the collection is. Use this option sparingly. Examples:

     • Samuel A. T. Walker Diary of work at the Forest Grove Indian School

     • Herb and Carol Drew Collection of Pacific University Photographs

     • Karl Ferguson Baldwin Collection of World War II Intelligence Reports on the Japanese
       

  5. Special note regarding Additions to previous collections
     Donors occasionally give us additions to collections of material that they have already donated. For example, Governor Atiyeh gave us his collection in over 20 separate gifts. For the purposes of the accession records, each subsequent donation should receive the same title as the first, plus the word, "Addition." Examples:

     • Al Lepage Papers Addition

     • Governor Atiyeh Papers Addition

     • ONLY use this when the papers are coming from the SAME DONOR as the original accession.

Titles for Art & Museum Collections

For Art and Museum collections, we use several standards to select/construct titles. CCO Section 1 provides the basic rules for naming single works of art and artifacts. Our local use of CCO is informed by archival practice as laid out in DACS. For collections of objects, DACS Section 2.3 provides the most authoritative rules.

1. For single, titled works: Use the existing title (with some exceptions)
   When possible, we use the title given by the creator of the work. We may also use a that has been inscribed on the work, or traditional/authoritative titles from reference works. Generic or confusing titles such as "Untitled" or "#1" should not be used. In the interests of making the record comprehensible to users, we construct a title for such works. (See CCO Section 1.2.2.1.) Examples of valid titles:

   • Sky passage, visions into space

   • Stormy sea

   • Barbara in blue shirt #2
     

2. For single, untitled works, use the formula: [Work type] AND/OR [Major theme depicted in the work]
   "If no descriptive title is available in an authoritative source, construct a descriptive title. If an inscribed or repository title is overly long, in a foreign language, or does not describe the work, construct a concise descriptive title in the language of the catalog record. Constructed titles may refer to the subject, the materials, the form, or the function of the work." See CCO Sections 1.2.2.2.2.2. - 1.2.2.2.3., especially the "Descriptive Titles" section, for more detailed rules. Examples:

   • Portrait Head of Andrew Jackson

   • Odysseus in the Underworld

   • Wicker chair

Note: 2-dimensional art such as paintings and photographs are usually not specified with a work type in the title, whereas 3-dimensional artifacts usually are.
For more tips on constructing titles, see the "Titles for Digitized Objects" section below, most of which can also apply to single works of art and artifacts. Standard terms for "work types" can be found in the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus

3. For collections of objects, see the rules for describing Archival Collections, above.
   

Titles for Digitized Objects (Omeka, WCHO, etc.)

When describing digitized objects for platforms like our Omeka site, heritage.lib.pacificu.edu, follow the guidelines below.*

1. Titles should:

   • Be short, unique if possible, and highlight a significant aspect of the object
     Think about book titles: They quickly describe something important about the book, but they don't describe everything that's in the book. You can go into more detail about the item in the description field.

   • Not include the author's name or the date, unless there is a compelling reason to do so.
     The author's name and the date will appear elsewhere in the record, so normally you don't need to include them in the title. (Again, think about book titles: they don't normally include the author's name.) Sometimes, though, the title doesn't make sense unless you include these details. Use your judgment.

   • Often include other proper names and places, if appropriate
     If an item is about a particular place, person, event, etc. that has a proper name, those are usually good things to put into the title.
     

2. Photographs and other primarily visual objects usually follow this format:

[Major person/place/object in image] + [optionally, the style of photograph, such as portrait]

You DO NOT need to state that it is a photograph in each case, but sometimes stating the style of photograph is useful. (Note: we loosely follow the rules for constructing Descriptive Titles in CCO Sections 1.2.2.2.2.2. - 1.2.2.2.3 ) Examples:

2. • • Sidney Harper Marsh portrait

     • Washington High School Class of 1924 group portrait

     • Forest Grove aerial view

     • John Smith's Blacksmith Shop in Hillsboro

     • Three children in a field

     • When an image is of a 3-dimensional object in the Archives, such as a piece of memorabilia, describe the object itself (rather than the photograph of the object). Examples:

     • Air Force One cigarette boxes

     • Nixon 1968 presidential campaign pin
       

3. Textual objects usually follow this format:

[Type of textual document] + on + [Topic] Examples:

3. • • Speech on Oregon's Measure 8

     • Letter to John Smith on the Forest Grove Congregationalist Church

     • Writings on the pioneer history of Washington County

     • Notes on nuclear disarmament

Note: An exception is when the text has it's own "title proper", as in a digitized book, work of art, pamphlet, etc. that was given a title by its author. In this case, transcribe the original title of the document. Examples:

• • • Huckleberry Finn

    • The New Version of the Holy Bible, as translated from the Greek

For clippings from newspapers/magazines that have an article headline, use: "[Original article headline]" + [article type]. You might occasionally have to include a few extra words about the topic of the article, if it's not clear from the title itself. Examples:

• • • "Japanese firm to build in state" news article

    • "The collector behind the gun" news editorial

    • "Fences" news article on the Indian Training School

*Documentation note: These rules are based on CCO (Cataloging Cultural Objects) and DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard). We often omit the preliminary "Names" segment called for by DACS when describing digital objects. DACS was primarily created to address collections of archival material. In the context of single-item digital records, the inclusion of the creator in the title is repetitive of other fields and potentially confusing to users. We do, however, retain the basic succinct structure of a DACS title whenever possible, i.e. [Subject or Creator]+[Type of Object]+[Topic]. To see much more detail on how to describe materials that have a "title proper", see: DCRM(B) Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books).