Using APT

The Australian Pictorial Thesaurus is regularly maintained and new terms are being added all the time. To ensure access to the most up-to-date version of the thesaurus, it is recommended that it be used online wherever possible, rather than downloaded. We also encourage users to register with APT. This takes just a few minutes and the information users provide about themselves is kept confidential and used only for the purposes of improving services based on user needs.

Basic searching of All terms (including Approved and Proposed terms) is the default search. You can select to search only for Approved Terms or Proposed terms, if you prefer.

• Type in any term, partial term or phrase. Click on 'GO'.
  
  This will display a list of terms containing words BEGINNING with your search expression. e.g. houses will return houses, terrace houses. It will NOT return lighthouses.

You can select Advanced search for more complex and structured searches.

Select the Search button to access the form

This allows you to refine your search, or set quite complicated parameters to a search.

The drop-down menu on each box allows you to select a combination or multiplication of the searchable fields

• Field allows you to choose to search for:
  • a Thesaurus Term
  • a word from the description of a Thesaurus term (Scope Note)
  • a word or abbreviation of the Authority name (Source)
• Contains, allows you to choose:
  • contains a word or part of a word within a term
  • = complete terms
• Truncate allows you to choose right, left or no truncation
• Combine methods allows you to relate your terms by the functions AND, NOT, OR.

APT Contains defaults to an "=" search. Selecting "=" for a search on fire will return all terms with words beginning with the word fire e.g. fires and fire engines. A contains search would return terms which include the word fire e.g. bushfires.

An advanced search is defaulted to do a truncation search. A search on pol will return both polar bears and politicians.

Terms can be combined or excluded using the boolean search phrases and, or and and not which are found in Combine method. By using the dropdown menus in Field and Contains many combinations for searching within Term records can be achieved.

Select the Search button to access the form

In the result screens different types of terms are displayed in different colours and symbols.

Term type	Colour	Symbol
Preferred terms	green
Non-preferred terms	red
Proposed terms	blue
Select as term	(in hierarchy)

• Clicking on any one of the green terms will display its full record.
• When viewing the hierarchy of terms, clicking on the purple arrow (), next to a term will display that term’s full record.
• Click on the menu buttons to:
  • see the term's position in the thesaurus hierarchy of terms
  • move forward or back in the list of terms
  • see only preferred terms [USE]
  • see only non-preferred terms [USED FOR]
  • make a new search
  • go back to the previous screen

The APT follows certain conventions - it is important to know these when looking for terms. Most terms are in plural and are in lower case, e.g. churches. In compound terms '&' is used instead of 'and' e.g. schools & colleges. See Form of terms for more details. Unlike many familiar library catalogues, the APT does not use string headings such as Automobiles -- Australia --- History. Instead it uses single words or brief phrases.

If a term does not quite fit the thing being indexed, look in its full record structure for broader, narrower or related terms. These may be more appropriate.

If it is proving difficult to find a term, look for it in Advanced search.
Searching for hills in a Basic search will return all terms which have words beginning with 'hills' i.e. ant hills; Hills hoists; hills. Doing an Advanced search which contains the word hills will also find terms which have hills within the word structure e.g. foothills, sandhills.

It can be necessary to distinguish between a term which describes both an item and an activity e.g. embroidery. In these instances the thesaurus has two terms: embroidery for the object and embroidering for the activity. Similarly, identical words with different meanings are qualified e.g. bats (mammals) and bats (sports).

It is important to note that the APT does not contain proper names (the names of people or organisations) or place names. However, the correct form for many of these (important for consistency in description and retrieval) can be found on State or National Library online catalogues.

APT terms are constructed following the basic principles listed below.

• The APT assumes all terms are Australian e.g. Aboriginal peoples, not Australian Aboriginal peoples. Exceptions are made for class names e.g. Australian terriers.
• Terms are in lower case.
• Terms are normally in the plural e.g. sailing ships, except where the collective term is most commonly used e.g. sheep, fish.
• Terms with more than one meaning have qualifiers (generally a broader term) in parentheses e.g. balls (events) or balls (toys).
• Terms use the '&' symbol for composite terms e.g. power & telegraph poles.
• No proper names are included in the APT. However, you will find brand and model names e.g. Holden Kingswood (cars). Such terms are used generically for all versions of a particular model - they do not distinguish between a Kingswood HZ or HJ.
• Plants and animals are known by their popular name provided the name is in established use and unambiguous. Popular names and popularised scientific names are entered in the plural and in lower case unless they contain words which are normally capitalised e.g. oak trees, melaleucas, Norfolk Island pines.
• When no popular name is available, only the first word [genus] is capitalised e.g. Aleurites fordii, Banksia serrata.
• Generic and family names not followed by a specific name are capitalised e.g. Proteaceae.
• Varietal names of plants or animals are given in the singular, with all important words capitalised, and qualified by a broader term e.g. American (apples), Marshall no. 3 (wheat), Leghorn (chickens), Aberdeen Angus (cattle).

Commonly used reference sources are abbreviated in APT term's Source field. Page, part, definition, edition numbers or dates may also be indicated e.g. Macq. ed.3 def.4. Less commonly used sources are quoted in full.

Abbreviations in Download

The downloaded version of APT uses the following abbreviations

It is useful to understand some indexing principles before beginning to assign terms.

Before indexing begins, decisions need to be made about how to describe the image(s). How important is the information within the images? Is it an image whose content demands individual indexing, or can the images be treated more broadly? In part this decision will also depend on your resources.

The nature of what is to be indexed partly determines the level of indexing. Is the information in an item already widely available, or is it unique? This affects how an image will be treated. Try to think what a researcher needs to know to get access to the items.

Images are often said to be of something, and about something. The image may be of a beer glass - it is an image OF a beer glass and would be indexed as beer glasses - but it may be ABOUT the wider issue of alcohol abuse and therefore could be assigned the term alcohol abuse. About terms are often said to be conceptual terms because they define the wider context of an image. They are also more subjective.

Often of and about terms can be combined in descriptions of collections. Of terms will be applied to the individual collection items; while about terms can be attached to the overall collection description.

It is important to record why a collection was created, and to try to assign terms to cover that. The reason for creating a collection often influences the nature of the images. For instance, a collection of photographs of houses taken by a real estate agent would show the houses in the best possible light because they are essentially advertising images. Researchers using such a collection would need to know this because it would affect the way the images could be used as evidence.

A single image can be more precisely indexed than a collection of images, which requires broader treatment. A single image of a class 46 NSW locomotive could be indexed as locomotives (NSW, class 46) and maybe electric trains, but a large collection of images of different models of trains might only be given the broader headings of trains, electric trains and steam trains. This is often sufficient to alert the researcher to the possibility of other images they might be interested in: to assign more specific terms can be time consuming and require expert knowledge.

If expert knowledge is not available to precisely index a car make or train model, simply assign the broad term. One way of assigning broader terms is to move up the APT hierarchy from a specific term to its broader terms.

Images can also be about similar things, all of which warrant indexing. An image of racing cars on the starting grid of a speedway could be indexed under racing cars, motor racing and speedways.

Think about what a researcher might wish to retrieve in the image. Look at an image to determine its most concrete and obvious points, but only index it if it is a useful and clear representation of the subject. An image may well have a telegraph pole in its distance but before assigning power & telegraph poles decide whether a researcher could use it. If they could not, do not index it.

Do not over-use terms like clothing, uniforms, or jewellery. Be more specific - beach clothing, earrings for example - or be certain why you are assigning it. Potentially, clothing could be assigned to nearly every image of a person, yet, in practical terms, this would lead to an unwieldy number of returns for a researcher.

The tools listed on the Indexing tools page are useful for indexing pictorial and heritage collections.

We encourage you to register with APT. This only takes a few minutes and gives you the ability to suggest new terms, to participate in the development of the thesaurus and to download a copy of APT to use locally.

All information you provide about yourself is kept confidential and used only for the purposes of improving services. You can also edit your account details at any time.

Select the Register button to access the form

To ensure that the APT stays relevant and current, users are encouraged to submit new or amended terms to the Thesaurus Coordinator for consideration.

To submit a proposed new term you can either write to the APT Coordinator directly or use the online Suggest a term form. You must be registered to use the online form. Postal submissions must provide a return postal address.

Users intending to submit a new term should first search APT to see if their term has already been submitted.

Suggest a term allows the user to submit as much or as little about a term as desired. If multiple narrower or related terms are being suggested, it helps the Coordinator if each term is separated by a semicolon and space (;).

The terms which have been proposed and are awaiting approval are immediately visible in the Proposed term search option in Basic search. Users intending to submit a new term should check here in case their term has already been submitted. As soon as the acceptance process is complete, and this will normally take less than 2 weeks, Proposed terms are moved into the Approved terms file.

The APT Coordinator will decide if the suggested term is accepted, and how it will fit into the thesaurus. It may be selected to become a preferred or non-preferred term and be related to other approved terms. The preferred term is usually based on the Macquarie Dictionary's primary choice and definition but other reference sources are used when appropriate. Any information about a new term that a proposer can supply is welcomed, including any references that may assist in its verification or opinions on how it may fit into the APT. Regional variations and usage of terms are of particular interest.

If the suggested term is already in the APT, a screen message alerts the user to its presence and will not allow the submission to go any further.

Users will be informed of the outcome of their submission.

Select the Suggest a term button to access the form

Suggestions for corrections or additions to existing APT terms and for the removal of such terms can be made by contacting the APT Coordinator.

The Australian Pictorial Thesaurus is regularly maintained and new terms are constantly added. To ensure access to the most up-to-date version of the thesaurus, it is recommended that you use the online version, wherever possible. Users who are unable to regularly access APT online as recommended, can register and then download a text or XML version of the APT.

APT will ask for a file location to be selected before the download proceeds.

Select Download APT to access the form

Please note: a downloaded version of the thesaurus will quickly date, and it is recommended that those users working from a downloaded copy should return online every month to download an updated list of terms.

Use Update Details to review or alter your user account

Select the Update registration button to access the form

If you have forgotten your password, contact the APT Coordinator.