Talking about Rare Books: exploring CVRMC as a learning tool
Trying to befriend a controlled vocabulary
Have you ever come across a term in a controlled vocabulary, and immediately wished you'd known it four months ago for a particular book you were working on? That's me all the time!
I don't think it's possible to ever comprehensively know all of the controlled vocabularies you're working with. However, it helps a lot to at least have an idea of what your options are.
An exercise that I've found incredibly helpful in getting to know the Controlled Vocabulary for Rare Materials Catalogers (CVRMC) is to choose one of the top hierarchical terms, and then just straight up type it out. This charged up my cataloguing in a couple of ways:
- It gives me a holistic visual sense of the size and scope of the vocabulary ;
- There is a slim chance that my brain will remember at least some of the terms ;
- It's a great way to learn new terms and familiarise yourself with what people in the field call things.
In case you're curious as to what this looks like, here's an example.
Case study: Index of CVRMC\Work\<Content of work>
As on 13 June 2024
<Geographic works>
Atlases (Geographic)
Gazetteers
Maps
Maritime journals
Pilot guides
Roadbooks
<Humorous works>
Burlesques
Caricatures
Cartoons
Comedies
Comic histories
Epigrams
Fabliaux
Facetiae
Jestbooks
Limericks
Nonsense verse
Parodies
Pastiches
Satires
<Reception of work>
Censored works
>Banned works
>Condemned works
>Expurgated editions
<Religious works>
Baptismal records
Bible stories
Catechisms
Christening books
Concordats
Conversion narratives
Devotional literature
Gospel books
Hymns
Indulgences
Jesuit relations
Litanies
Miracle narratives
Religious plays
Sermons
Service books
Thumb bibles
Alternative publications
Anti-abolition works
Anti-slave trade works
Anti-slavery works
Anti-women's suffrage works
Colonialist works
Cryptograms
Doomsday literature
>Apocalyptic sermons (NT)
Erotica
Tijuana bibles
Hate works
Historical works
Annals
Biographies
Chronicles
Comic histories
Family histories
Jesuit relations
Local histories
Military histories
Oral histories
Illustrated works
Armorials
Blow books
Brand books
Comic books
Leaf books
(Use for a book containing an account of an earlier printed book or manuscript and including an original leaf or leaves from it.)
Legal works
Bills
Concordats
Constitutions
Laws
Legal formularies
Legal instruments
Legislative proceedings
Memorials (Legal)
Official gazettes
Orders in council
Parliamentary petitions
Petitions
Legal petitions
Parliamentary petitions
Royal petitions
Proclamations
Fast day proclamations
Thanksgiving day proclamations
Regulations
Administrative regulations
Military regulations
Session laws
Treaties
Trial proceedings
Literary hoaxes
Little magazines
Musical works
Antiphonaries
Ballads
Carol books
Chants
Choir books
Graduals
Hymnals
Librettos
Operas
Operettas
Part books
Parts (Music)
Scores
Song sheets
Songs
Songsters
Political works
Campaign literature
Fascist works
Mazarinades
Nazi works
Prejudicial works
See separately: Index of CVRMC\Work\<Content of work>\Prejudicial Materials