Recording Publications

Introduction

Publication nodes were added to the CHCD in version 2. They are used to record information about books, journals, posters, calendars, tracks, and other types of publications. Publications in the CHCD are either works published in China about Christianity or works published outside of China about Christianity in China.

This documentation provides guidelines to help you format your own data collection sheets so that the data can be readily cleaned and inputted into the CHCD. Each section provides a description of what is being recorded, a general format for how to record, and examples.

Note: These general formats are suggestions for use in your own data collection, however, please refer to Data Collection Basics before designing your own spreadsheets.

Identifying Static Properties

These are general properties which are recorded non-relationally in the database. They are identifying because they are generally unique to each institution.

Below is a list of identifying static properties which should be recorded if your historical document contains them.

name_western

The official or most common English title of the publication or a reasonable English translation. If a publication was published in a Western language other than English, please list an English translation for the title in this field.

FORMAT

Publication Title

EXAMPLES

Monthly of the Catholic Action
The Manchu-Knoller

alternative_name_western

Alternate titles of the publication in other Western languages (e.g. Latin, Dutch, etc.). List common spellings and alternate titles that the publication is recorded under. If listing more than one title, use a semicolon to separate the entries. Separate the names by a semicolon.

FORMAT

Alternative Title; Alternative Title; ...

EXAMPLES

Ruch Chrześcijańsko-Spoleczny
"Bulletin Catholique" de l'Eparchie russe du rite byz-slave en Manchurie; Католицький бюлетень Російської єпархії визько-слов'янського обряду в Маньчжурії;

chinese_name_romanized

Chinese title of the publication in Romanized script, pinyin first followed by any other spelling system. Alternative spellings with a semicolon. Designate the romanization system by abbreviation when possible.

Here is a list of the most common romanization systems utilized with suggested abbreviation:

• (py): Hanyu pinyin
• (wg): Wade-Giles
• (y): Yale
• (lsw): Latinhua Sin Wenz
• (gr): Gwoyeu Romatzyh (National Romanization)
• (j2): Juyin II
• (po): Chinese Post Office System
• (rt): Ricci-Trigault System
• (ef): Système de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient

FORMAT

Title (system); Title (system); ...

EXAMPLES

San I Shêng (unknown)
Ma Na (py)

chinese_alternative_name_romanized

Alternate Chinese titles, including different spellings, under which the publication is recorded. If listing more than one name, use a semicolon to separate the entries. Designate the romanization system by abbreviation when possible.

Here is a list of the most common romanization systems utilized with suggested abbreviation:

• (py): Hanyu pinyin
• (wg): Wade-Giles
• (y): Yale
• (lsw): Latinhua Sin Wenz
• (gr): Gwoyeu Romatzyh (National Romanization)
• (j2): Juyin II
• (po): Chinese Post Office System
• (rt): Ricci-Trigault System
• (ef): Système de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient

FORMAT

Alternative Title (system); Alternative Title (system);

EXAMPLE

De guo mang ren zhi jia (py)
Bei tang (py); Xi shen ku tian zhu tang (py); hsi shih k'u t'ien chu t'ang (wg)

chinese_name_hanzi

The most official or most common Chinese title of the publication, typed in traditional (i.e. non-simplified) characters [繁體字].

FORMAT

出版品名稱

EXAMPLES

華東教育
東聲

chinese_alternative_name_hanzi

Alternate Chinese titles used by the publication. Alternate names should be types in traditional (i.e. non-simplified) characters.

FORMAT

出版品名稱; 出版品名稱; ...

EXAMPLE

新生命
之江校刊; 之江學報

start_date

List the start date of the publication using the Gregorian calendar in this order, separated by semicolon: day; month; year. If only a Chinese lunar calendar date is available to you, use a calendrical concordance to convert it to the Gregorian calendar.

*Note: If the publication is not a series (i.e. a book), this field simply records the publication date. *Note: If only a year or month is available, you may leave off more specific date components.

FORMAT

YYYY; MM; DD

EXAMPLES

1909; 05
1703; 02; 09

end_date

List the end date of the publication using the Gregorian calendar in this order, separated by semicolon: day; month; year. If only a Chinese lunar calendar date is available to you, use a calendrical concordance to convert it to the Gregorian calendar.

*Note: If only a year or month is available, you may leave off more specific date components. If the publication is still in existence and in use, you use the value “active” to denote its continuing presence.

FORMAT

YYYY; MM; DD

EXAMPLES

1936
active

edition

List the edition of the publication. This will typically be used when recording a book that has been released in multiple editions.

*Note: Record this field using a number whenever possible.

FORMAT

edition

EXAMPLES

1
2

volume_number

List the volume number of the publication. The volume number typically counts how many years a publication has been running.

*Note: Record this field using a number whenever possible.

FORMAT

volume

EXAMPLES

1
2

issue_number

List the issue number of the publication. The issue number typically counts how many times a publication has been released in a given year.

*Note: Record this field using a number whenever possible.

FORMAT

issue

EXAMPLES

1
2

issue_frequency

Record how frequently the publication is released. Please use a conscise description

FORMAT

issue frequnecy

EXAMPLES

Every other year
Bi-annually
Monthly

circulation

Circulation is a count of how many copies of a particular publication are distributed.

FORMAT

circulation

EXAMPLES

5,000
500 (320 abroad)

format

Record information about the format of the publication. This could include information about the physical size of the publication, the medium it was printed on, the number of pages, or other information. Record this information as succinctly as possible.

FORMAT

description of the format

EXAMPLES

21x15, 80 pages
from 26x19 to 23x16, 40-60 pages

price

Record information about the price of the publication. This could include information about the price of a single copy, a yearly subscription, or other pricing information. Record this information as succinctly as possible.

FORMAT

Price (situation); Price (situation);...

EXAMPLES

Free
$2 (yearly subscription in China); 2 gobi (yearly subscription in Manchuria); $2 (yearly subscription in US); 20 cents (per issue)
5 cents (per issue); 60 cents (yearly subscription)

publication_language

Record the original language(s) of the publication. If the publication included multiple languages, separate them by a semicolon. If a given publication was issued in multiple languages, please create a new publication node for each language.

FORMAT

Language; Language…

EXAMPLES

English
Chinese (simplified)
Chinese (文言文); Japanese

publication_category

This property records the primary type of the publication. These properties are a set list, but more specific categorization can be achieved with the publication_subcategory property.

Currently, this property has five potential values:

• Book: Used for a book, pamphlet, or other stand-alone publication
• Series: Used for journals, magazines, newspapers, etc.
• Issue: Used for a specific issue of a journal, magazine, newspaper, etc.
• Ephemera: Used for posters, calendars, tracks, maps, etc.
• Other: Used for any other miscellaneous types of publication.

FORMAT

Type

EXAMPLES

Book
Series

publication_subcategory

This property records the specific type of the publication being recorded. There is not currently a set list of values, but it is best practice to follow the descriptors of historical documents. If multiple subcategories can be used, separate them using a semicolon.

FORMAT

Subcategory; Subcategory; ...

EXAMPLES

Children’s paper
Theological news; mission news

Documentational Static Properties

These are documentational properties which are recorded non-relationally in the database. They are documentational because they record additional notes and source material.

Below is a list of documentational static properties which should be recorded if your historical document contains them.

notes

Add any additional pertinent information that cannot be recorded any of the other static categories. There is no standardized format for this property.

FORMAT

No set format.

EXAMPLE

Occasionally funded by grants from German government.
Suspended for a year, afterwards continued under the title of The Ringing Bell

source

List the sources where the information in this table has been found, followed by page number in parenthesis. Indicate first major reference sources used, then more focused sources if some specific information is not in main reference sources (indicate what). Sources can be indicated in abbreviated form or with acronyms (e.g Dehergne Repertoire, 159).

FORMAT

Source Information [Page #]; Source Information [Page #];

EXAMPLE

Eugenio Menegon, “Ricci, Francesco,” in  Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, vol X, Roma, Istituto Treccani, 2016 [XX]; For name in Chinese see ARSI, Japonica Sinica XXX [XX]

Relationships

Publication nodes can have one kind of relationships in the CHCD:

• INVOLVED_WITH: This relationship category is used to connect Publications to People, Institutions, Corporate Entities, Events, General Areas, or other Publications.

When designing your spreadsheet and recording data, it is good to keep these basic relationships in mind. Below are descriptions of each relationships and an example of how it might be recorded in a spreadsheet.

INVOLVED_WITH

This relationship category is used to connect Publications to People, Institutions, Corporate Entities, Events, General Areas, or other Publications.

This relationship also has its own properties which can be used to record data about the nature of the relationship. They are as follows:

• relationship_type : A one or two word descriptor of the node’s relationship to the publication.
• start_year : Records the starting year of the relationship, also used if no end date to the relationship is available.
• start_month : Records the starting month of the relationship, also used if no end date to the relationship is available.
• start_day : Records the starting day of the relationship, also used if no end date to the relationship is available.
• end_year : Records the ending year of the relationship.
• end_month : Records the ending year of the relationship.
• end_day : Records the ending year of the relationship.
• note : Records any additional information about the relationship.
• source : Records the source in which the relationship is attested.

NOTE ON COLLECTING INVOLVED_WITH RELATIONSHIPS

This relationship type is designed to allow for flexibility when linking other nodes to publications. Therefore, the relationship_type property of the relationship is important for providing more detail about the nature of the connection. Below are some examples of possible relationship types between nodes (this list is not exhaustive):

• Person -> Publication: editor, author, contributor, subscriber, reader
• Institution -> Publication: published, funded, commissioned, supported
• CorporateEntity -> Publication: published, funded, commissioned, supported
• Event -> Publication: recorded in, promoted, distributed at
• Publication -> General Area: published in
• Publication -> Publication: second edition, sequel, part of, issue of, responding to

EXAMPLE HEADER FORMAT

Publication; Start YYYY; End YYYY; Relationship Type; Geography Code; Note

EXAMPLE ENTRIES

Monumenta Serica; 1921; 1930; Co-editor; Was the founding editor.
The Chinese Recorder; 1885; Issue of; sixteenth volume;

Example Spreadsheets

As stated throughout, make sure to design your spreadsheet to work most efficiently with your source materials. That said, it can be helpful to see examples of spreadsheets in action.

SPREADSHEET 1: SINGLE PERSON RESEACH

This sort of spreadsheet might be useful if you are inputting data from a personal archive or biography.

Spreadsheet 1

SPREADSHEET 2: MULTI-PERSON RESEARCH

This sort of spreadsheet might be useful if you are working through a institutional archive, necrology, or specialized directory.

Spreadsheet 2