Hi there Sylvia, We have quite a variation on how our descriptions have been done. For some our more famous and long-standing favourite works we have gone with using the interpretive labels you would find in the gallery space. However when we expanded our descriptions to cover all our oils for our participation in the PCF/BBC "Your Paintings" project we took a more what you see visual description with some slight interpretation where it was known. The PCF did produce some description guidelines to help participating collections, they would only apply to fine art though. I would be very interested in other organisation's replies to this. John John Peel | Collection Information Officer & Gallery Beekeeper| [log in to unmask] Manchester Art Gallery | Mosley Street | M2 3JL | www.manchestergalleries.org Tel +44(0)161 235 8892 | Internal 805 8892 | Fax +44(0)161 235 7144 | Text +44(0)161 235 8893 Follow us on Twitter | Visit Manchester Galleries' Flickr Photostream The First Cut - Friday 5 October 2012 - Sunday 27 January 2013 In Translation: Women, Migration and Britishness - Saturday 25 February 2012 - Saturday 23 February 2013 Art in Hard Times: The Walk to Dover by Spartacus Chetwynd and Victorian Paintings of Modern Life - Saturday 14 July 2012 - Sunday 14 April 2013 Dreams Without Frontiers - Friday 29 June 2012 - Wednesday 1 May 2013 Everything’s Inevitable: Works from the collection of Manchester Art Gallery selected by Des Hughes - Tuesday 1 May 2012 - Sunday 5 May 2013 Focal Points: Art and Photography - Thursday 17 May 2012 - Sunday 2 June 2013 NOW OPEN TILL 9PM EVERY THURSDAY Please consider the environment before printing this email Sylvia Cox <[log in to unmask]> Sent by: Museums Computer Group <[log in to unmask]> 08/11/2012 16:17 Please respond to Museums Computer Group <[log in to unmask]> To [log in to unmask] cc Subject Standardising descriptions I wonder if anyone would mind offering some advice about standardising object descriptions... I am currently reviewing the way that information is entered into the 'Description' field on Ablib, and was wondering whether anyone uses/knows of set standards that can be applied? Do people tend to start with a broad description and then hone in on the finer detail? Is there a standard way to order the information entered E.g. Form, colour, decoration, etc. ? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I'm sure people do things in different ways, and perhaps there is no set formula for this, but it would be nice to compare approaches. With thanks, Sylvia Cox Collections Management Fellow Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts University of East Anglia Norwich Research Park Norwich NR4 7TJ **************************************************************** website: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ukmcg Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/museumscomputergroup [un]subscribe: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email-list/ **************************************************************** ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com ______________________________________________________________________ ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. The full text of the Council's email disclaimer is available at http://www.manchester.gov.uk/emaildisclaimer. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept for the presence of computer viruses. Please contact [log in to unmask] with any queries. ********************************************************************** ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com ______________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** website: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ukmcg Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/museumscomputergroup [un]subscribe: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email-list/ ****************************************************************