CHIN Discipline Authority List proposed for the Humanities (2006)

Discipline is a field particularly useful in the context of organizing large-scale databases like Artefacts Canada.  Discipline is defined as a "branch of learning" which relates to the specialization of the museum or museum collections.  This definition allows a museum to choose one or multiple entries for this field. A museum may designate all of its records with one discipline, or it may divide its collections and assign different areas of its collections different disciplines.

Proposed Discipline Authority List (extracted from the AAT)

Proposed Discipline Authority List (extracted from the AAT )

Descriptor

aeronautics

Narrower Term(s)

aviation

Scope Note

Science and practice of flight.

Descriptor

agriculture

Narrower Term(s)

horticulture

Scope Note

Science or art of cultivating the soil, harvesting crops, and raising livestock.

Descriptor

anthropology

Narrower Term(s)

ethnology
material culture
physical anthropology
social anthropology

Scope Note

The scientific study of human history in its biological, linguistic, and social aspects.

Descriptor

archaeology

Narrower Term(s)

classical archaeology
ethnoarchaeology
industrial archaeology
underwater archaeology

Scope Note

Study of human history through the remnants of material culture, environment, and animal remains.

Descriptor

architectural history

Use For

architecture, history of 
history of architecture 
history, architectural

Scope Note

Study of the development over time of the human built environment.

Descriptor

art

Narrower Term(s)

decorative arts
fine arts

Scope Note

Use with reference to the study or practice of the fine arts or the fine and decorative arts together.

Descriptor

astronomy

Broader Term

physical sciences

Scope Note

The science that deals with the material universe beyond the earth's atmosphere.

Descriptor

aviation

Broader Term

aeronautics

Scope Note

Branch of aeronautics which includes the design, production, and operation of aircraft, particularly heavier‑than‑air aircraft.

Descriptor

chemistry

Broader Term

physical sciences

Scope Note

Branch of physical science that deals with the composition and properties of the elementary substances of which all bodies are composed, the laws that regulate their combination, and the various phenomena that accompany their exposure to diverse physical conditions.

Descriptor

church history

Use For

history, church

Scope Note

Study of the history of the Christian Church and its sects and branches.

Descriptor

classical archaeology

Broader Term

archaeology

Use For

archaeology, classical

Scope Note

Field of archaeology that deals with the culture and artifacts of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.

Descriptor

decorative arts

Broader Term

art

Use For applied arts

arts, applied 
arts, decorative 
arts, minor 
minor arts

Scope Note

Traditional Western designation for those arts involving the creation of works that serve utilitarian as well as aesthetic purposes, or involving the decoration and embellishment of utilitarian objects.

Descriptor

earth sciences

Broader Term

physical sciences

Use For

sciences, earth

Scope Note

The sciences concerned with the nature, origin, evolution, and behavior of the solid earth, its waters, and the air that envelops it, including the geologic, hydrologic, and atmospheric sciences.

Descriptor

ethnoarchaeology

Broader Term

archaeology

Scope Note

Study of contemporary societies from a materialistic perspective, focusing on variability rather than typical and categorical behaviour, with the purpose of interpreting the past of those societies.

Descriptor

ethnology

Broader Term

anthropology

Scope Note

Use for the scientific, historic, or comparative study of the origins, characteristics, and functions of human cultures and societies.

Descriptor

film (performing arts)

Use For

cinema
motion pictures (performing arts)

Scope Note

Use for the study and practice of filmmaking and motion pictures as an art and form of expression.

Descriptor

fine arts

Broader Term

art

Use For

arts, fine

Scope Note

Traditional Western designation for those arts involving the creation of works as aesthetic or intellectual expressions intended primarily for visual contemplation or enjoyment.

Descriptor

forestry

Scope Note

The science, management, and cultivation of forests for timber production and other uses.

Descriptor

heraldry

Scope Note

Field of knowledge dealing with coats of arms, including their depiction and use, determination of who is entitled to display them, the genealogy of families having coats of arms, and the maintenance and interpretation of heraldic records.

Descriptor

history

Narrower Term(s)

industrial history
local history
maritime history
military history
oral history
social history
urban history

Scope Note

Discipline that studies the chronological record of events, such as affecting a nation, community, individual, object, or place, based on a critical examination of source materials and usually presenting an explanation of their causes.

Descriptor

history of religion

Use For

religion, history of

Scope Note

Use for the comparative historical study of the nature and structure of the world's religions and their diverse manifestations over time in different societies and cultures.

Descriptor

horticulture

Broader Term

agriculture

Scope Note

Intensive and extensive cultivation of garden plants including fruits, vegetables, flower crops, and landscape and nursery crops.

Descriptor

industrial archaeology

Broader Term

archaeology

Use For

archaeology, industrial

Scope Note

Field of archaeology dealing with the sites, structures, and artifacts of the industries and processes of industrialization of former times.

Descriptor

industrial history

Broader Term

history

Use For

history, industrial

Descriptor

local history

Broader Term

history

Use For

history, local

Scope Note

Field of history concerned with topics that are distinctly localized in subject matter and source materials, generally covering specific neighborhoods, communities, counties or other specific subdivisions of larger geopolitical bodies.

Descriptor

maritime history

Broader Term

history

Use For

history, maritime

Scope Note

Branch of history concerned with any and all aspects of seafaring in any context, such as commerce, exploration, warfare, and culture.

Descriptor

material culture

Broader Term

anthropology

Use For

culture, material

Scope Note

Study of the physical objects made by a people for satisfaction of their needs, especially those articles required for sustenance and perpetuation of life.

Descriptor

medicine

Scope Note

Use generally for the study of human diseases and injuries, including their causes, treatment, and prevention, and with the diagnosis and management of patients.

Descriptor

military history

Broader Term

history

Use For

history, military

Scope Note

Branch of history covering organized warfare and military institutions in general, as well as specific wars, personalities, engagements, units, weaponry, uniforms and other military artifacts.

Descriptor

musicology

Scope Note

Scientific and orderly investigation and study of music and related areas, including history, theory, music education, acoustics, psychology, and social and cultural aspects.

Descriptor

naval architecture

Use For

architecture, marine 
architecture, naval 
marine architecture

Scope Note

Art or science of designing and building ships and other waterborne craft.

Descriptor

numismatics

Scope Note

Study of coins, tokens, medals, paper money, and objects closely resembling them in form or purpose.

Descriptor

oral history

Broader Term

history

Use For

history, oral

Scope Note

History in which historical information is recorded, or histories are presented, in the form of audible speech or song.

Descriptor

paleoanthropology

Broader Term

physical anthropology

Scope Note

Branch of anthropology dealing with fossil remains of the human species and its predecessors.

Descriptor

philately

Scope Note

Study of postage stamps, revenue stamps, stamped envelopes, postmarks, post cards, covers, and similar materials relating to postal or fiscal history; also the collection of such materials.

Descriptor

physical anthropology

Broader Term

anthropology

Narrower Term(s)

paleoanthropology

Use For

anthropology, physical 
somatology

Scope Note

Comparative study of human physical evolution, variation, and classification, especially through measurement and observation of living people as well as human remains.

Descriptor

physical sciences

Narrower Term(s)

astronomy
chemistry
earth sciences
physics

Use For

sciences, physical

Scope Note

Division of the natural sciences that systematically studies inanimate matter and energy apart from the vitality of living beings.

Descriptor

physics

Broader Term

physical sciences

Scope Note

Science that studies the laws determining the structure of the observable universe and the interaction between its fundamental constituents, such as matter and energy, with the broad goal of explaining natural phenomena.

Descriptor

social anthropology

Broader Term

anthropology

Use For

anthropology, cultural 
anthropology, social 
cultural anthropology

Scope Note

Branch of anthropology focusing on the origins, history, and development of human societies and social structure, including in its scope aspects of archaeology, ethnology, and ethnography.

Descriptor

social history

Broader Term

history

Use For

history, social

Scope Note

History that concentrates on the sociocultural aspects of the life, customs, trends, and institutions of a people.

Descriptor

underwater archaeology

Broader Term

archaeology

Use For

archaeology, marine 
archaeology, submarine 
archaeology, underwater 
marine archaeology
submarine archaeology

Scope Note

Branch of archaeology that deals with the recovery of ancient objects found beneath the sea, as shipwrecks or remains from submerged human settlements, and with the techniques of underwater exploration, excavation, and retrieval.

Descriptor

urban history

Broader Term

history

Use For

cities, history of
history of cities 
history, urban

Scope Note

The history of cities and towns, the urbanization of human life, and all aspects of urban life over time.

Descriptor

video

Scope Note

Use for the study and practice of creating works of video art.