Scope: Each month, term collectors gather all preferred and non-preferred terms from designated resources.
Cleaners or Rankers: Their role is to select preferred terms and non-preferred terms, and document their work in a Cleaning spreadsheet.
Searching in Both English and Spanish
For resources allowing searches in English: Start by searching for the term in English. If no results are found, then search for the Spanish translation of the term.
For resources limited to Spanish-only searches: Use the Spanish translation of the term gathered from resources allowing English searches. These are best tackled last, after completing your searches in English.
Gather Preferred and Non-Preferred Terms
The formatting of preferred and non-preferred terms may differ across the resources we utilize. Before searching, make sure to consult the resource's "Cheat Sheet", which offers guidance on navigating the resource and locating preferred and non-preferred terms.
Adjust Keyword Searches as Needed
When dealing with resources beyond library authority catalogs, such as crowdsourcing platforms like Wikidata, alter keyword searches as needed.
For instance, when searching for the FAST term “Spanish American War (1898),” consider searching for “Spanish American War” without including the year, as the exact phrasing may differ from the FAST term.
Searching for Strings and Phrases
If the initial search for a string or phrase returns no results, conduct separate searches for each term inside the string or phrase. If all terms within the string or phrase are discovered within a resource, record them individually in separate cells within the term collection spreadsheet. If only one or some of the terms in a string or phrase are found, they should still be included, as they may prove useful in distinguishing between preferred and non-preferred terms during the cleaning process.
Set Up Cleaning Spreadsheet
In your cleaning spreadsheet, create separate tabs (sheets) for each term.
Copy and paste all term collector terms compiled for each term onto their respective sheets, utilizing the "Paste Transpose" function.
Organize Resources into Three Categories: Latin American, Spanish, and USA Resources
Once 3 lists have been constructed, copy and paste terms into their corresponding cells to construct a table.
Select Preferred Term
The preferred term is determined by its frequency of occurrence within each resource type. In case of a tie, priority is given based on a ranking system: Latin American, Spanish, and USA Resources, in that order.
Select Non-Preferred Terms
Incorporate all terms from resources not selected as the preferred term only if they accurately capture the original meaning and are linguistically sensible.
Finalized PANA terms will maintain the formatting style of both Library of Congress Subject Headings and FAST subject headings.
Phrases and strings will be in sentence case, with a double hyphen used to separate terms inside strings.
English terms in plural form will be translated to plural Spanish equivalents for consistency, and vice versa for terms in singular form.
Regarding phrases, word order in Spanish within a phrase should make sense, prioritizing coherence in Spanish over strictly following the exact word order of English phrases.
Resources Listed in Finalized Terms Sheet
Only resources utilized in selecting the preferred term will be included in the Finalized Terms spreadsheet.
Special Cases
If a Spanish equivalent is not found or if there is a tie within one resource type, the members of the Bilingual Metadata Working Group will collectively decide on the most appropriate local translation.
Updated March 2024 by Rose Echeguren
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