Keywording Tips...

Here's a few tips to help your keywording process:

1. Match Your Keywords To Your Search Mechanism - Think about how users, including your own staff, will actually use your archive. Do searches allow for criteria such as "and" or "not"? Are those search criteria used in reality or do people simply opt for the quick-search window? This can have a major bearing on what keywords you should construct and how many you need to put in.

2. Develop A Realistic Keywording Vocabulary - It's best to get your research staff together to talk over what searches they actually do, and what searches they have trouble completing effectively because of a lack of keywords. Much of this will depend on the sorts of images you hold. A fashion archive would be likely to require far greater detail, and a much wider vocabulary, to describe the clothing of photo subjects, than would a sports agency. If possible, enlist the help of people with experience in keywording to help you work through such issues as whether to include alternative spellings

3. Harmonise Captions With Keywords - If the caption and keywords fields are both being searched, try to stop the caption sabotaging the keywords by adding in words which mislead researchers, such as mentions of people not visible in the picture.

4. Work Out How To Make Your Keywording Consistent And Comprehensive - The best keywording vocabulary and policies are of no use unless you can make sure they are followed. The work should be done by staff specifically trained and designated for the task. Software which organises the process is a huge advantage. Do not leave it up to photographers.

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