The Thesaurus for Graphic Materials is a tool for indexing visual materials by subject and genre/format. The thesaurus includes more than 7,000 subject terms to index topic shown or reflected in pictures, and 650 genre/format terms to index types of photographs, prints, design drawings, ephemera and other categories. New terms are added regularly.  TGM is searchable through the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC). [Search TGM] [view PPOC introduction]

As of October 2007, the Thesaurus for Graphic Materials I: Subject Terms (TGM I) and the Thesaurus for Graphic Materials II: Genre and Physical Characteristic Terms (TGM II) were merged into a single vocabulary, the Thesaurus for Graphic Materials, and migrated to new software. The merged TGM is available for searching in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC). Application guidelines for subject indexing (TGM I) follow. Application guidelines for genre/format terms (TGM II) and a separate genre/format term list for downloading will continue to be available at the TGM II home page.

Although the thesaurus content remains essentially the same, there are some minor changes in field structure and labeling. For example, Public Note is now called Scope Note. Additionally, new fields were added to clarify term usage. For further information on these changes see "Fields in Term Record Displays" (via PPOC - About the Thesaurus).

Introduction

• I. TGM I: Summary of Features
  • I.A. Scope and Purpose
  • I.B. Term Selection and Formulation
  • I.C. Structure and Syntax
    • I.C.1. Relationships
    • I.C.2. Syntax
    • I.C.3. Facet indicators
    • I.C.4. Notes
    • I.C.5. Filing conventions
  • I.D. Relation to Other Cataloging Tools
  • I.E. MARC Coding
  • I.F. Significant Changes from the First Edition
• II. Indexing Images: Some Principles
  • II.A. What to Index?
  • II.B. "Of" and "About"
  • II.C. Proper Name Indexing
  • II.D. Generic and Specific
  • II.E. Subject Headings as Compared With Genre and Physical Characteristic Headings
• III. Subject Heading Strings and Subdivisions
  • III.A. Nationality Subdivisions
  • III.B. Geographic Subdivisions
  • III.C. Chronological Subdivisions
  • III.D. Topical Subdivisions and Appendices
    • APPENDIX A: Subdivisions Used With Names of Ethnic, Racial, and Regional Groups, and with Classes of Persons
    • APPENDIX B: Subdivisions Used With Names of Persons
    • APPENDIX C: Subdivisions Used With Names of Wars
    • APPENDIX D: Subdivisions Used With Corporate Bodies and Named Events
  • III.E. Combining Subdivisions
• IV. Indexing for Manual Files
• V. Proposals for New Terms and Changes
• VI. Future Prospects for TGM I

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Sample Catalog Records and Illustrations

Contact the TGM editors at: tgmed@loc.gov

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