Creator

About Creators

  • The "Creator" is the person, family or organization most responsible for creating the main content of the item.
  • In the case of photographs, the creator = the photographer, not the person in the photograph. For textual documents, the creator = the author. For oral histories, the creator = the interviewee. Although it is possible to enter multiple 'creators,' in general we try to pick the most significant person or organization to enter in this field.
  • If you do not know the creator or it is unclear who was most responsible for the creation, leave the field blank. Do not use 'anonymous,' 'unknown,' etc.

For more documentation on the rules for Creators, see: DACS Part 1, Chapter 2.6

Entering an Individual Person as Creator

The standard format for an individual person's name is:

[Lastname], [Firstname] optionally followed by: [Middle Name(s)], [Birth Year]-[Death Year]

Leave any elements that you don't know blank. Examples:

  • Jenner, Rosa
  • Smith, John Harris, 1963-
  • Walker, Samuel Ammon Thurston, 1853-1944

Additional rules:

  • If someone has more than one name, use the one by which he/she was most commonly known in public.
For example, we would use Twain, Mark rather than Clemens, Samuel.
  • For women who might have a maiden name and a married name, you can choose to: (a) use only the last name they were normally known by in public (usually their married name); or (b) add their maiden name as a middle name, e.g.: Walker, Mary Richardson.
  • In general, don't include titles or honorifics.
For example, don't enter: Doe, Sarah, Dr. or Atkins, Simon, Rev. An exception would be if you do not know their first name at all, e.g.: Benson, Mrs.; this is OK.
  • Optionally, you can add birth/death dates, middle names or initials, and so on; these go in this order: Lastname, Firstname Middlenames (Qualifier e.g. Nickname), Birthyear-Deathyear
Don't waste a bunch of time tracking down these things if you don't know them, though. Usually we only add these if we need to differentiate someone who has a common name, for example: Walker, Samuel Ammon Thurston, 1853-1944Hinman, Alanson (Lant)
  • Sometimes it's better to record the organization that a person is representing rather than the individual person as the author. See the rules on Entering an Organization as a Creator, below.
When a letter, document, etc. is the official output of a particular business, school, government body, etc. it may be more appropriate to record that organization as the creator. For example, if someone named "Nancy Perkins" wrote a letter on behalf of Clean Water Services to sewer customers in Forest Grove, we would record the author as "Clean Water Services (Forest Grove, Or.)". Nancy Perkins' name could still go into the Description field so that searching for her name as a keyword would still find this letter.
  • Professional practice recommends checking the Library of Congress Name Authority File to see if there is a standardized form of someone's name already established. For WCHO Volunteers, this is optional.
This is done in order to (a) keep people with the same names separate by having a centralized list of unique forms of their names; (b) make sure that everyone is using the same 'authorized' form of their name, rather than a pseudonym, maiden name, etc. However, the LCNAF is really designed for users who have professional library training and is difficult to use for others. Volunteers from WCHO may check it or may skip this step.

Entering a Family as a Creator

This is uncommon for items added to WCHO. We would use it if we had a collectively-authored item like a family account book or a family album. The standard format is:

[Optional Firstname(s)] [Lastname] family [Optional (Cityname, Or.)]

The city name segment is usually only used if the family name is very generic or easily confused with other family branches. Examples:

  • Guggemos family
  • Elkanah and Mary Richardson Walker family
  • Smith family (Forest Grove, Or.)

Entering an Organization as a Creator

It is very common to enter an organization as a creator. (In library jargon, this is called a 'corporate author.') This is used when an item is the official output of a group. Some common examples of types of items would be:

  • Advertisements for a business
  • Meeting minutes of an organization
  • Photographs created by a studio
  • Regulations issued by a government body
  • Letters or other documentation created as the official business of a non-profit, a business, etc.

The most typical format for businesses and non-profits is:

Organization Name [Optionally add (Cityname, Or.)]

Examples:

  • Friends of Historic Forest Grove
  • Chess Club (Tigard, Or.)
  • Washington County Museum (Or.)
  • J. S. Thomas Photography
  • Jones & Sons (Hillsboro, Or.)

Notes: In general, keep the organization's name in the same order as how it is most commonly known in public. The location is usually only necessary to add if the organization name is common or easily confused with similar ones. Usually, you should omit legal terms like, "Inc." unless the 'Inc' is an integral part of their branding.

For Sub-Sections of a larger business/organization, you may use a period after the parent company followed by the name of the division. 

Organization Name. Division Name

Examples:

  • Catholic Church. Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon
  • University of Oregon. Student Affairs
  • Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Grand Encampment of Oregon

For government bodies, the usual format is: 

[State, County or City jurisdiction]. [Office or Department Name]

Examples:

  • Washington County (Or.). Department of Land Use and Transportation
  • Hillsboro (Or.). City Council
  • Oregon. State Historic Preservation Office

Notes: The formal rules for government body names can get very tricky. In general, you name the state or city -- if necessary including a qualifier to distinguish a common place name -- then the department under it, and then if necessary, subdivisions of that office and/or other qualifiers. For WCHO's purposes, keep it as simple as you can.