Patchwork in Alternative Culture

Dublin Core and VRA ontology are the foundational metadata descriptors for my cataloguing process. I chose to combine all appropriate description options into a singular resource template to then utilize different categories depending on the available information. For example Peter Beste’s works were all featured in a singular published book Defenders of the faith: the Heavy Metal Photography of Peter Beste in 2019.^[1] Titles for the works were the location but lacked additional information about the year the photograph was taken or identity of the individuals wearing the jackets. Meanwhile, Tom Cardwell works had measurements, medium, year, and titles for the works which required additional categories such as height and width. Date created and date last modified were utilized for physical works as I wanted to highlight the creation process of the jacket. I chose to only require essential information such as identifier, title, and rights in order to keep objects findable but allow for flexibility when cataloguing unique items. 

I utilized Getty’s Art and Architecture thesaurus for medium standards. The category was flexible enough that I removed material as a category as it felt redundant and unnecesary. However, I did find that this neglected to have a category for leather jackets specifically although it offered both jean and denim jacket options. For band names and music genres I utilized the Library of Congress’ Name Authority File and subject headings. Names that have words with multiple meanings were the most difficult to catalogue as the option I required wasn’t intuitively at the top. 

Identifier (Dublin Core)  *                                               Number associated to item entry given by cataloguer

Title (Dublin Core)   *                                                        Artwork titles remain consistent, physical objects given title by cataloguer

Description (Dublin Core)                                              Collection of jackets/ vests of denim and leather and artworks inspired by battle jackets

Creator (Dublin Core)     *                                               Username or specified name 

Date Created (Dublin Core)                                          Specific to physical battle jackets

Date Last Modified (Dublin Core)                              Specific to physical battle jackets

Medium (Dublin Core)  +                                                Physical object material and artwork technique

Bands feature on patches (Dublin Core)  +            Self explainatory...

Music Genres (VRA Ontology)   +                                 Also self explainatory

Rights Holder (Dublin Core)  *                                     Individual with rights or managing resource

was published (VRA ontology)                                    Date of publication (Specific to published artwork)

height (VRA ontology)                                                    Specific to artwork

width (VRA ontology)                                                      Specific to artwork

* Required Field

+ Controlled Vocabulary (Getty: Art & Architecture Thesaurus, LC: Name Authority File, LC: Subject Headings)