Introduction
Use Genre/Form terms to indicate types of materials that are predominant within collections. These subjects are generally indicated at the collection or series level. All collections containing digital materials should have a genre/form term applied indicating the type of material.
Digital Material Terms
For collections containing any digital materials, one or both of the following genre/form terms should be used at the collection level as applicable. For collections where the bulk of digital material falls into a particular format, more granular terms can be used. These subject terms may also be applied at the series level where applicable.
Term | Definition | Source | Authority ID |
|---|---|---|---|
born digital | Describes material or content created in electronic form and saved as digital data, having had no initial or interstitial state as an analog or physical product. Usually used to refer to electronically produced drafts of text, correspondence or visual works such as photographs created with digital cameras. This material may be written or saved on personal computers, floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, hard drives, or any mode of digital storage media. | AAT | |
electronic reproductions | Reproductions of images, books, or other intellectual property in electronic form, such as for online viewing. | AAT |
Term List
This list is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive. Additional terms may be used when deemed appropriate. Only use additional genre/form terms to describe predominant formats in the collection. Use genre terms that are not format specific when a collection contains multiple forms. For example, use correspondence unless the predominant form of correspondence in a collection comprises electronic mail.
Term | Definition | Source | Authority ID | In ASpace? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
audiobooks | Literary works recorded on audio media and distributed commercially. | AAT | ||
blogs | Short for 'Web logs' or 'weblogs:' a Web site that functions as an online journal or diary, most often maintained by a single person, but also by groups with common interests. Commentary, images, sound, or video files are posted regularly with the most recent entry appearing first. Blogs may focus on a particular area of interest and contain links to content on external Web pages. | AAT |
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computer-aided designs (visual works) | Visual works that were computer-aided in creation, depicting architecture, landscape design, cities, transportation infrastructure, engineering projects, automobiles, computer chips, or other objects of any size. | AAT |
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databases | Structured sets of data held in computer storage, especially those that incorporate software to make them accessible in a variety of ways. A database is used to store, query, and retrieve information, typically comprising a logical collection of interrelated information that is managed as a unit, stored in machine-readable form, and organized and structured as records that are presented in a standardized format in order to allow rapid search and retrieval by a computer. | AAT |
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digital art (visual works) | Visual works created or modified using a computer or other digital medium. These products are exhibited in a variety of ways: statically or as interactive concepts that may reveal or obscure their computer origins. For works that use computer machinery intrinsically as a part of the work, use "computer art." | AAT |
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digital media | Media containing any content that is represented in digital form, meaning it is encoded in an electronic format that uses a series of discrete values (commonly the numbers 0 and 1) to record data and render it machine-readable. Digital media include, but are not limited to, digital audio and video tape, floppy discs, and portable hard drives. | AAT |
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digital photographs | Photographs created with a digital camera, which is a cameras that acquires still or motion pictures via an electronic sensor and stores them as digital information on a memory device. | AAT |
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electronic mail | Communication by means of a system that allows computer users to exchange messages in electronic format on a network, often but not always comprising messages from one individual to one or many others via telecommunications links between computers or terminals. | AAT |
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electronic publications | Publications in electronic formats, including magazines, books, Web sites, databases, and other materials. | AAT |
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electronic records (digital records) | Compilations of recorded information, often standardized in format and content and treated as a unit, that are machine readable and created, modified, stored, retrieved, and distributed by digital means. Although analog data is also electronic, this concept does not typically include analog data. | AAT |
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emulated devices | Emulated devices are software that allows a computer to simulate other devices and operating systems. | Local |
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folksonomies | A user-generated system of classifying and organizing online content into different categories by the use of metadata such as electronic tags. Folksonomies are generally characterized by non-standard, idiosyncratic social tagging. They are not necessarily the result of a collaborative effort, but are usually the compilation of personal tagging of content by individuals. | AAT |
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geospatial data | Information gathered and used for analysis pertaining to the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features and boundaries on, above, or below the earth’s surface | AAT | ||
social media | Refers to tools, usually a combination of software and database accessible through the World Wide Web, which enable persistent computer-mediated relationships that encompass social networking, blogs, wikis, and social or collaborative tagging. For specific activities that use social media, use relevant terms such as "social networking." | AAT |
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software | Computer system programs, procedures, and associated documentation concerned with the operation of data processing systems, and which require hardware for use to be made of them. For individual collections or sequences of code provided by a user to perform a particular task, use "programs." For programs that serve a particular purpose and that may be packaged and sold by a manufacturer use "applications." | AAT |
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text messages | Written messages that are transmitted electronically, typically restricted to short, keyed messages sent from one mobile phone to another or via the Internet. | AAT | ||
web sites | A group of World Wide Web pages usually associated with a particular subject and connected via hyperlinks, made available online by an institution, company, government, or other organization. | AAT |
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webcomics | Comics having a primary or only published format on a Web site. | AAT |
