3.2.2.3 Geographic Descriptors Geographic Location Is A
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UPDATED SECTION 3.2.2.3 OF INDEXING GUIDELINES (GEOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTORS) 3.2.2.3 Geographic Descriptors Geographic location is an important concept in many scientific documents. Therefore, records prepared for inclusion in the ASFA database should be geographically indexed whenever geographic location is an important criterion for the work being reported. The types of papers that require geographic indexing include (but are not necessarily restricted to): Biological collections and check lists Distribution records Surveys, cruises and expeditions Descriptions of new species All types of ecological papers Fisheries papers (e.g. for descriptions of ports and fishing grounds, fishing surveys and fishing statistics) Aquaculture papers (e.g. species, diseases, culture methods, statistics etc. when in reference to a particular location). Papers on the physical environment (oceanography, limnology, geology, meteorology, etc.) Second stage of indexing (Geographic descriptors) Note - Papers dealing purely with anatomy, ultrastructure, and experimental work under laboratory or controlled conditions should not normally be geographically indexed. 3.2.2.3.1 ASFIS Geographic Authority List (ASFIS-7) and the Geographic String Pick List in the www-ISIS-ASFA input software The ASFIS Geographic Authority List (ASFIS-7) is the ASFIS Reference Series document that contains examples of the Geographic descriptors used to index documents in the ASFA Database. These examples cover all the different geographical concepts (sea codes, regions, countries, geographic features, etc.) arranged alphabetically and cross-referenced. The Geographical String Pick List in the www-ISIS-ASFA software includes all the strings that form the examples in the ASFIS Geographic Authority List plus many thousands more that have been used in indexing papers for ASFA over the years. However, neither the ASFIS Geographic Authority List nor the Pick List can list all of the geographical locations in the world. The indexer, therefore, must sometimes construct the appropriate Geographic descriptor using the format suggested by the existing terms in the ASFIS Geographic Authority List. LANGUAGE - It should be noted that for geographic names with different language versions, the English form is preferred, i.e. for Autriche use Austria; for Bayern use Bavaria; for Lac Leman use Lake Geneva; for Bretagne use Brittany. For geographic names without English equivalents the original language form should be used directly for example “Argentina, Buenos Aires, Laguna Grande” 3.2.2.3.2 Selection of Geographic Descriptors Each relevant concept (geographic location) identified in a document by the indexer should be "translated" into the most relevant Geographic descriptor available in the www-ISIS-ASFA Geographical Pick List. Many will be self evident. However, as stated in 3.2.2.3.1 above, neither the ASFIS Geographic Authority List nor the Pick List can list all of the geographical locations in the world. If the correct Geographic descriptor is not available in the Pick List, the indexer will have to construct an appropriate descriptor. This is best achieved by selecting the nearest equivalent string from the Pick List and amending it using the GUIDELINES given below in conjunction with the examples suggested by the existing terms in the ASFIS Geographic Authority List. The indexer should consult the printed version of the ASFIS Geographic Authority List because the pick-list in www-ISIS-ASFA does not contain the complex cross- referencing structure and explanatory notes present in the printed Authority List. The ASFA indexer may assign as many Geographic Descriptors as required, but usually 1 to 5 terms are sufficient. Geographic descriptor(s) are entered in the www-ISIS-ASFA worksheet field called (Geographic descriptors). The method is described in 4.3.3. GUIDELINES: LEVEL OF SPECIFICITY - The level of specificity should normally be that mentioned in the paper being indexed (i.e. if a specific feature or area is mentioned, it should be entered as a descriptor). Second stage of indexing (Geographic descriptors) To permit retrieval at either broad, intermediate or specific levels, the Geographic descriptors in the Pick List have been constructed to contain all such levels, as appropriate (in descending order from broadest to the most specific). For example: (i) ANE, UK, England, Devon, Taw Estuary, (ii) INW, Japan, Honshu, Shizuoka, Suruga Bay (iii) ANE, Baltic Sea, Russia, Nortwestern Federal District, Kaliningrad Region, Gulf of Gdansk Please note the order of the string in example (iii). Here, Russia comes after the Baltic Sea since the Russian coastline of the Baltic Sea is more specific than the total coastline of the Baltic Sea. The descending order from broadest to the most specific then continues with Nortwestern Federal District being a more specific part of Russia. ABBREVIATIONS AND WORD ORDER – geographic indexing strings should not now (after 2010) contain abbreviations. The following abbreviations which were used in previous indexing guidelines are no longer used for geographical index strings: Dem. (Democratic); I. (Island); Is (Islands); L. (Lake); Mt. (Mountain or Mount); Natl. (National); Prov. (Province); R. (River); Rep. (Republic); St. (Saint); Terr. (Territory or Territories) Whenever possible, the normal word order (that is the word order in common use) should be used for these areas and features. This now also applies to such features as: Bay – for example “Bay of Biscay” but “Delaware Bay” Gulf – for example “Persian Gulf” but “Gulf of Alaska” Strait – for example “Strait of Gibraltar” but “Bass Strait” Lakes – the word order can be critical. For example, in the USA, North Carolina has two different lakes – one called “Lake James” and a different lake called “James Lake” Rivers – the word order tends to be less specific – for example the “River Nile” is sometimes called the “Nile River” and often just called “the Nile”. For the geographic indexing strings, as a general rule, use the order “name river” for consistency, for example “Rhone River”. However, there will be some instances where the common use is so strong that it should be retained for example “Rio de la Plata”. INDEXING FEATURES BY TYPE Inland areas The lead entry must be a country name, or, if a number of countries is to be referred to in the same continent, by the name of the continent. Sometimes it is necessary to index a paper by using the Continent name, and also by using one or more of the country names separately e.g. Europe: France; Germany; Luxembourg (Please note: (i) that an entry of the type "Europe, France" is not permitted. (ii) that inland areas do not start with or incorporate a Sea Code) In order to be more specific when dealing with large countries, the name of a state, province, or county should be included if known. The country or continent name is always followed by a comma and space before the state, province or county: example 1, a country (i) Italy (ii) UK (iii) Senegal example 2, a continent (i) Europe example 3, an island, or island state (i) USA, Hawaii (ii) Japan example 4, an island of an island state (i) USA, Hawaii, Maui Island example 5, types of subentries for state, province or county (i) UK, England, Devon, (ii) Kenya, North Eastern (iii) Indonesia, Kalimantan, East Kalimantan (Please note that the words state, prefecture, province, and county have been omitted. This guideline can be over-ruled if omitting the administrative division name will cause confusion. For example “Nigeria, Cross River State, Cross River”) example 6, types of subentries for city (note - ports need a Sea Code) (i) USA, New York, New York (ii) Italy, Lazio, Rome, Rome (iii) ASW, Uruguay, Colonia, Nueva Palmira Port Lakes It is worth repeating the notes relating to Lakes in the “ABBREVIATIONS AND WORD ORDER” section above - the word order for the name of a lake can be critical. For example, in the USA, North Carolina has two different lakes – one called “Lake James” and a different lake called “James Lake” Since the abbreviation of L. is no longer being used, country variations on the word Lake (for example Llyn, Loch, Lough) can be used. If such variations are used in the Geographic Descriptors Field, it is recommended that the indexer consider adding the subject term “Lakes” in the Subject Descriptors Field (not the Geographic Descriptors Field). An example of such a variation: example 7, (i) Eire, Clare, Lough Atorick (It is recommended that the term “Lakes” is also added to Subject Descriptor Field) Terms such as “Laguna” which may have a specific meaning (in this case, a particular type of shallow lake formation) can be used with the same recommendation relating to the use of an additional Subject Descriptor such as “Lakes”. example 8, (i) Argentina, Buenos Aires, Laguna San Miguel del Monte Names of lakes in many countries may have a prefix or suffix which donate “lake” for example the German lake “Titisee”. If there is no English equivalent name the original form can be used. In which case, it is again recommended that the indexer consider adding the subject term “Lakes” in the Subject Descriptors Field example 9, (i) Germany, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Titisee Documents dealing with lakes falling within two or more countries must be indexed as subentries of the continent: example 10, (i) North America, Lake Ontario Entries of this type may be made more specific by using the appropriate country as entry point, e.g. a study dealing only with the USA waters of Lake Ontario may be indexed: example