CCO Descriptive Titles

Title that Complies with CCO:

[Jane Ninas on the Balcony of the Belle Grove Plantation, White Castle, Louisiana]

Artist: Walker Evans (American, St. Louis, Missouri 1903–1975 New Haven, Connecticut)

Date: 1935, printed 1990

Medium: Gelatin silver print

Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.5 cm (4 5/8 x 3 3/6 in.)

Classification: Photographs

Credit Line: Gift of Estate of Walker Evans, 1991

Accession Number: 1991.1308

Rights and Reproduction: © Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

CCO Rules:

1.2.2.1 (Preferred Title): For the preferred Title, use a concise descriptive title in the language of the catalog record (English in the United States). It should be a recent title provided by the owning institution, a concise inscribed title, or a title provided by the artist, if known and if it is sufficiently descriptive.
1.2.2.2.2 (Constructed Title): If no descriptive title is available in an authoritative source, construct a descriptive title [...] Constructed titles may refer to the subject, the materials, the form, or the function of the work.
1.2.2.2.3 (Descriptive Titles: referring to figures, works, or places): Where appropriate, refer to named or anonymous figures, other works, or places depicted in the work.

The title follows several of the CCO standards and rules for titles. First, the title is concise and descriptive, which can be found under a number of rules but specifically the preferred titles. This rules addresses the need to make sure that titles are clear and not wordy. Second, the title follows the rule for constructed titles. This rule centers on making sure that if no title from the source, creator, or owner are available that the title refers to the subject, place, materials, or form. Lastly, the title refers to both a named person and a place. It follows the rule for including names of both when they are depicted in the photograph. 

The titles gives the location and depicts what is being shown in the photograph.  Since the title is unknown, the repository (the Met) constructs a title that refers to the subject. This title demonstrates that information not provided in the record should be placed in brackets based on AACR2 standards. The viewer of the image understands from the title what the image is of as well as can match the image with the title. It’s important for the viewer/user that the title convey the subject of the image. Through the title, users are able to search based on subject as well as location. 

Title that doesn't compile with CCO: 

ARTIST:

Unidentified

SITTER:

unidentified

MEDIUM:

tintype with applied color

DIMENSIONS:

plate: 8 x 6 3/4 in. (20.3 x 17.1 cm)

TYPE:

Photography-Photoprint

DATE:

ca. 1865-1885

TOPIC:

Portrait female\bust

Ethnic\African-American

CREDIT LINE:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mitchell and Nancy Steir

OBJECT NUMBER:

2009.44.19

SEE MORE ITEMS IN:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

DATA SOURCE:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Title: [Woman]
New descriptive title: [Tintype Portrait of an African-American Woman]

The original title for this photograph only lets the user know that the photograph is of a woman. The repository knows the work type as well as the type of photograph. Additionally, the repository includes subject terms such as African-American, female, portrait, but does not include any of these in the title. CCO allows for repeating information that’s in the title in other fields in the record. According to CCO rules, titles can be constructed that identifies the subject of the work, the materials, the form or the function of the work. The title may also include the work type. By changing the title to the one constructed, users are able to better search and find this photograph.

References:

Bartha, Martha. Cataloging Cultural Objects: A Guide to Describing Cultural Works and Their Images. Chicago: American Library Association, 2006.

"Walker Evans | [Jane Ninas on the Balcony of the Belle Grove Plantation, White Castle, 

Louisiana]." The Collection Online. Accessed November 10, 2015. 

http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/266595?

rpp=30&pg=1&rndkey=20151109&ft=*&deptids=19&pos=21.

"[Woman]." Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution. Accessed November 10, 2015. http://collections.si.edu/search/tag/tagDoc.htm?recordID=saam_2009.44.19.