Geographical names as access points for retrieving database records. Theory and practices of a library regulation

51. évfolyam, 2005. 4. szám

UNGVÁRY Rudolf – PÁSZTI László

Könyvtári Figyelő (Library Review), vol. 15. (51.) 2005. no. 4. pp. 765 – 789.

Geographical names as access points for retrieving records play an important role in retrieving information. Although using these names seem a simple procedure, the system of their relations is very complicated. Firstly, there are a number of homonym geographical proper names (e.g. out of the seven most important cities called London, three are located in the U.S. and there is an island called London too.) Secondly, there is a great variety of types of geographical names (names of states, names of administrative units, city names, names of institutions, and geographical terms with a general meaning, such as mount, river, lake).

Thirdly, the same geographical place can have names in different languages, and this phenomenon is especially true on the European continent including Eastern Europe (see the variety of names for Vienna, or the names of Istanbul over different historical periods). Furthermore, administrative units can be merged or separated, or certain names can start to refer to a completely different unit. In comparison with authority data, the regulation of geographical names as access points for retrieving information started relatively late in the field of cataloguing. Even internationally, the rules are still not fully conciliated with the structures of thesauri that have been traditionally used for subject retrieval for decades. The regulation of Hungarian geographical names has been completed recently. Its authors tried to utilize the experiences resulting from the use of thesauri. This study presents the principles of the regulation, the methods used and also a few concrete solutions. The basic principles are summarized at the end of the second chapter.

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