I think I may have been using an old search interface, not id.loc.gov. http://authorities.loc.gov/ On Tue, May 31, 2011 at 11:27 AM, Keith Jenkins <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > 1 and 2 probably represent two different geographic levels with the > same name. There is a township (county subdivision) called > Springfield, which also contains a "city" called Springfield. > > If you are planning to generate LCSH placenames, one thing to note is > that LCSH typically uses old-style state abbreviations ("Mass.", > "Pa.") instead of the more common postal abbreviations ("MA", "PA"). > > I thought there might be some way to use id.loc.gov but for some > reason none of your example LCSHeadings show up in a search for > "springfield" -- maybe place headings are not comprehensively included > in id.loc.gov? > > Keith > > > On Tue, May 31, 2011 at 11:02 AM, Ethan Gruber <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Hi all, > > > > I've just about completed a new XForms-based interface for querying > > geonames.org to populate the <geogname> element in EAD. An XML > > representation of a geographical place returned by the geonames APIs > > includes its name, e.g., Springfield, country name, and several levels > > administrative names (Sangamon County, Illinois). Is there some sort of > > official way of textually representing a place? In LCSH, one finds: > > > > 1 Springfield (Bucks County, Pa.) > > 2 Springfield (Bucks County, Pa. : Township) > > 3 Springfield (Burlington County, N.J.) > > > > Why 1 and 2 are distinct terms in LCSH, I don't know. The mode for > dealing > > with American place names seems to be "[name of place] ([administrative > name > > - lower level], [administrative name - upper level])". For a European > city, > > we find "Berlin (Germany)" > > > > Are these examples in LCSH the most common way to textually record > places, > > or are there other examples I should look at? > > > > Thanks, > > Ethan > > >