Making known the decisions of the names authority, for example, through gazetteers, maps and toponymic guidelines for map and other editors
Publishing official names
The dissemination of official geographical names is the end result of a standardization programme. The work of the national authority will have limited success if those in national and local government, the business community, the general public and the international community are unable to obtain official name information quickly and easily.
Publication of the national authority’s principles, policies and procedures is also important because it explains the basis for official name decisions and supports the integrity of the naming process.
Information on official names can be provided to the user community through official maps and gazetteers made available in paper copy. Today, distribution can be carried out electronically through the Internet, and on CD-ROMs, as well as via a national GIS (geographic information system) (Glossary, 118) that may also include official maps. Different media suit different user needs.
The publication of a standard map series, by the national mapping organization is one of the best methods available to most countries for the dissemination of official names. Paper maps, unfortunately, are not frequently revised, but public notices in the form of periodic correction lists can provide new names and official changes to names on published maps.
With geographical names in a computer database, the official names, name correction lists and the national authority’s principles, policies and procedures can be made available by CD-ROM and/or posted on the Internet. The Internet allows distribution to a large user audience worldwide and supports daily or almost real-time updating of data. With the provision of a search engine on the World Wide Web, users can effectively address their own queries to the official database.
Gazetteers
The First United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names recommended that each names authority produce, and continually revise, appropriate gazetteers of all its standardized geographical names and that, in addition to the standardized names, each gazetteer should include, as a minimum, such information as is necessary for the proper location and identification of the named features (I/4 E, 1967). In particular, it was recommended that the following be included:
(a) The kind of feature to which the name applies;
(b) Precise description of the location and extent, including a point position reference if possible, of each named feature;
(c) Provision for the parts of natural features to be additionally defined by reference to the whole and for the names of extended features to be defined as necessary by reference to their constituent parts;
(d) Such information on administrative or regional areas as is considered necessary and, if possible, reference to a map or chart within which the features lie;
(e) All officially standardized names for a feature, if there is more than one; and provision for cross-references to be made to names previously used for the same feature.
A basic group of publications for any particular country includes a language dictionary (or dictionaries), a national atlas, a large-scale map series, a national encyclopedia and, importantly, a national gazetteer. To date, most gazetteers are in paper-copy format. However, if a country’s toponymic data has been automated, gazetteer information can be made available in digital format, for example, on the Internet.
Gazetteers list in a logical (for example, alphabetical) order the geographical names found within an administrative division of a country or within the whole country (see figure XVII). For all official names, a gazetteer should include information that identifies the kinds of geographical entities named, their locations, and variant names and spellings. In some countries, gazetteers might include additional information, such as: elevations, population of places, official map sheets, grammatical information such as name gender or romanized name forms. Gazetteers are generally compiled and published after a relatively complete collection of names and associated information has been assembled for an area. The national authority’s database of official names (or the card files) should provide the data source.
Gazetteers differ from publications that also include information on name meaning, history of the naming process and/or history and geography of the feature. These works are normally termed geographical dictionaries.
The Second United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (1977) considered that the publication of full national gazetteers might not be immediately possible in some countries. However, considering the international community’s need for a basic stock of a country’s official names, the United Nations Conference recommended making available interim lists of standardized names.
In its resolution II/35 (1977), the Second United Nations Conference recommended that in the interim, countries be encouraged to publish concise lists of their names of geographical entities, including administrative divisions, within a reasonable time and that, as far as possible, where those names were officially written in a non-Roman script for which a romanization system had been agreed, romanized names in accordance with those systems should be included in those lists.26
26 See Second United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, vol. I, Report of the Conference, London, 10-31 May 1972 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.74.I.2).
Figure XVII. Example of gazetteer content and part of a page layout, as illustrated in the bilingual publication entitled Concise Gazetteer of Canada/Répertoire toponymique concis du Canada
Note:
• Names are shown in upper and lower case with appropriate diacritics and listed alphabetically.
• Entities: populated places, administrative and geographical areas are grouped into 13 types of entities (that is to say, categories) and physical features are grouped into 21. Each entity is displayed in abbreviated form in English and French.
• Location 1 and location 2 are the first- and second-level administrative divisions of the country.
• Map scale: 1:50,000.
• Latitude (north) and longitude (west) are provided in degrees and minutes, rounded to the nearest minute.
If the office maintains its official name records in automated form as a computer file, the publication of a gazetteer becomes an easy matter. The computer, with simple printers, is capable of printing out whatever fields of information are required, in any order and with the desired layout for publication purposes.
Today, digital gazetteers available on CD-ROMs or on the Web may supplement, or replace, printed gazetteers.
Before a gazetteer programme is begun, it would be useful to review gazetteers published in other countries, their publishing procedures and formats, and the methods of correction and update used.
Updating official name information
Maps and printed gazetteers become out of date shortly after they are published. The time gap can be bridged by use of information reports that keep users informed on a regular basis of changes and new names. If the official name records are part of a computer file, the information maintenance problem is easily solved. These reports and up-to-date gazetteers in various formats can be printed or made available digitally with very little preparation cost.
Again, with an official geographical names computer database, current information can easily be made available to a wide range of users.
Toponymic guidelines for map and other editors27
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In 1979, the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names developed the idea that each country should periodically make available to the world community an up-to-date document to promote a better understanding of its toponymy. The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names recommended (resolution IV/4, 1982) that countries should be encouraged to publish and keep up-to-date toponymic guidelines for map and other editors, which would enable cartographers of other countries to treat correctly all problems of cartographic toponymy of the countries that had produced such guidelines, and which might be of help to all users in interpreting maps.28 It was further recommended that those guidelines contain, inter alia, and as appropriate, the following items:
(a) Legal status of geographical names in the respective languages of multilingual countries;
(b) Alphabets of the language or languages and, furthermore, in the case of non- Roman alphabets and scripts, the officially introduced romanization keys;
(c) Spelling rules for geographical names;
(d) Aids to pronunciation of geographical names;
(e) Linguistic substrata recognizable in the existing place names, but only as far as their knowledge could be of benefit to the cartographer;
(f) Relationship between dialect(s) and standard language(s);
(g) Peculiarities of dialect and areal distribution of the main dialects;
(h) Areal distribution of languages in multilingual countries;
(i) Names authorities and measures taken in names standardization;
(j) Source material;
(k) Glossary of words necessary for the understanding of maps;
(l) Abbreviations in official maps;
(m) Administrative divisions.
27 ) For further details, see part two, chap. IX.
28 See Fourth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, vol. I, Report of the Conference, Geneva, 24 August–14 September 1982 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.83.I.7).
This list of recommendations for national guidelines is formidable and it could be difficult for a beginning names authority to comply with them, especially with those aspects that relate to linguistics. It is suggested that the authority obtain copies of existing country guidelines and make a compilation based on what is currently possible. As experience is gained, office staff can build on the initial compilation for more complete editions of the guidelines in future years.
Obtaining assistance from professional linguists is also recommended.