Creators
You can add a record for each artist, performer, composer, or other person responsible for the creation of the work in your guide.
Add one Creator record per individual represented in your collection. To attribute work to a collective or collaboration, you can attach multiple Creators to one Item.
Creator Fields
- Prefix: If applicable, the creator's prefix or honorific (e.g., Dr., Mrs., Sra., Professor).
- Name: The creator's full name.
- Life Dates: The creator's life dates. For more, see Life Dates.
Life Dates
In the app, the life dates appear immediately below the Creator name and are automatically enclosed in parenthesis. You can enter the life dates in any format you like, but we recommend that you use a consistent format for all Creators in your guide.
You might have an in-house style guide for how you structure life dates. If you don't have a house style for life dates, we recommend:
- Living creator: Use the format "b. YYYY" (e.g., b. 1950)
- Deceased creator: Use the format "YYYY–YYYY" (e.g.,1900 – 1980)
- Unknown dates: Enter a historical or artistic period (e.g., Late medieval or Ancient Egyptian)
- If you want to include nationality, put it at the beginning of the date entry (e.g., French, 1625–1701)
Creating an Artist Bio Item
You might want to provide more information about an artist or other creator. In this case, consider creating an Item to house "artist bio" information, like images, life story, and other supporting materials.
Imagine you are creating an Item to represent the Mona Lisa. You could do the following:
- Add an Item called "Mona Lisa" to represent the painting, including descriptive and interpretive information.
- Add a Creator to represent Leonardo da Vinci. Attach this creator to the "Mona Lisa" Item (and any other da Vinci's in your collection).
- Add an Item called "Leonardo da Vinci Biography" to house information about the artist, including a brief introduction, biography, and supplemental images of the artist, his process, or his space.
- Attach the "Leonardo da Vinci" Creator to the "Mona Lisa" Item. Then, in the Related section of the "Mona Lisa" Item, attach the "Leonardo da Vinci Biography" Item.
