Art and Architecture Thesaurus
The Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) published by the Getty Research Institute is a hierarchically structured, polyhierarchical and multilingual thesaurus for the indexing of objects in art and cultural history collections. With around 35,000 terms and 245,000 designations, the AAT comprehensively covers the areas of art, architecture and material culture.
Due to its multilingualism and wide range of topics, the AAT is used as an international standard. Originally started as an English language thesaurus, it is currently available in English, Dutch, Spanish and mostly Chinese. A German version is currently being prepared at the Institute for Museum Research .
Structure of the AAT
Every term is part of a concept. Each concept has a preferred name for each language variant; alternative designations are also possible. In addition to the preferred designation, a concept always has a unique identification number and a "parent concept" within the hierarchical context. A so-called scope note defines and explains the concept. In addition to these strictly hierarchical relationships, the structure of the AAT also allows equivalent and associative relationships.
The AAT is made available as Linked Open Data (LOD).
structure
The AAT is divided into eight facets:
1. Objects
Names for real, man-made objects such as paintings or buildings. It is the most extensive facet.
2. Associated Concepts Terms
for abstract concepts and phenomena, such as abstract art, interdisciplinarity or provenance.
3. Physical Attributes
Designations for perceptible or measurable properties, such as dimensions, surface characteristics or opacity.
4. Styles and Periods
Names for styles and epochs, such as Baroque or Stone Age. In addition, the facet also includes religions and ethnic groups (Christian, Turkmen).
5. Agents
Names for actors such as people, groups, organizations, which are defined by their activities and activities. In this facet there are professions (landscape painter, musician), religious, social and political groups (suffragettes, veterans, dictators), but also forms of organization (guilds) and organisms (mushrooms).
6. Activities Terms
for physical and mental activities, processes or actions, such as pilgrimages, research or peat cutting.
7. Materials
Terms for natural and artificial physical substances, such as leather, papyrus or ink.
8. Brand Names
Terms for brand names. This facet is new and has 35 entries so far.
The AAT is subject to strict editorial control by the Getty Research Institute, which also oversees the constant deepening of the subject areas and the expansion of the range of subjects, as well as regulating any necessary structural adjustments. This continuous support enables the high quality that the AAT can demonstrate in terms of its structure, its hierarchical structure, the variety of terms as well as the content and scope of the sources and definitions of terms (scope notes).
Application area
In the context of the documentation, the AAT is used as a controlled word list. The hierarchical and relational structure as well as the multilingualism of the AAT offer great advantages in terms of recording the collection items and when they are used in the search.