SUBMITTING CATEGORIES AND LISTS

Introduction

The building blocks of ROMFI is a piece of information that places a Product in its context, related to a number of features, such as time and place.

Very important for ROMFI is that the Product data feeding into ROMFI be as precise as possible. The most correct product data that we can capture to ensure the utmost accuracy on ROMFI is found in catalogues, with company archives, collectors, museums and with experts. This knowledge is the raw data of ROMFI. The easiest source of data is from original Company sales catalogues, brochures, advertising and other Company documents. This Catalogue data has a certainty of correctness, especially if it pertains to a time in the past that is so distanced from today. Old catalogues are a valuable bridge to the past that ROMFI, as well as the many people that support us, rely on for guaranteeing the most pin-point accuracy. Though we at ROMFI actively search out old catalogues, we also depend heavily on people with catalogues in their possession to send this data to ROMFI.

Who submits Category data to ROMFI?

ROMFI welcomes this input from everyone with source material (companies, company archives, collectors, museums and experts) . Submissions are preferably in electronic form, as text, spreadsheet, XML data, etc. We also do accept donations of original catalogues by post, or scans of original catalogues by mail as well. If suitable these will be processed into ROMFI data, depending on time and other constraints as well as copyright regulations. These donated Catalogues will then be added to the ROMFI source data ephemera collection to act as valuable reference material.

Are all Catalogues Suitable for ROMFI

From experience we have found that the best source of product information is from the catalogues of the Company that actually manufactured the item. An old retailer catalogue e.g. the "Sears Catalog" which is made up of diverse products compiled from a variety of manufacturers can be a difficult headache to decode into individual manufacturers; but can nevertheless, after this task is done, be a valuable source of information.

How To Submit Category Lists

A Company catalogue is usually an annual publication that lists companies' products. In this publication the company lists the items they manufacture, with item numbers, product descriptions, dimensions, price and often pictures. Here is an example of a furniture manufacturer:

What we need to capture, as a first step, is company and year specific product listings. Thus if you were going to list the products as displayed in the above catalogue example, it would be something like this:

Thonet & Co. 1905 Catalogue

No. 150 Bamboo Imitation Plant Stand
No. 150a Bamboo Imitation Plant Stand
No. 150b Bamboo Imitation Plant Stand
No. 151a Bamboo Imitation Spanish 3 piece Screen
No. 151b Bamboo Imitation Spanish 3 piece Screen
No. 13002 Bamboo Imitation Hall Stand
No. 13102 Bamboo Imitation Hall Stand with Mirror
No. 153 Bamboo Imitation Clothing Cupboard
No. 150 Bamboo Imitation Clothing Cupboard
No. 151 Bamboo Imitation Corner Shelves
No. 152 Bamboo Imitation Toilet Table

However this list is a mixture of subjects and for clarity in ROMFI we require some differentiation and classification into subjects. As you see on the "All Categories" page, one needs to categorise the list into thematic groups.

So with our list we are obviously dealing with Furniture, and differing types thereof. So the optimal list to send to ROMFI would have a format in the nature of this:

Furniture
            Plant Stand
                        Thonet & Co.
                                    1905
                                                No. 150 Bamboo Imitation Plant Stand
                                                No. 150a Bamboo Imitation Plant Stand
                                                No. 150b Bamboo Imitation Plant Stand

            Screen
                        Thonet & Co.
                                    1905
                                                No. 151a Bamboo Imitation Spanish 3 piece Screen
                                                No. 151b Bamboo Imitation Spanish 3 piece Screen

            Hall Stand
                        Thonet & Co.
                                    1905
                                                No. 13002 Bamboo Imitation Hall Stand
                                                No. 13102 Bamboo Imitation Hall Stand with Mirror

Thus a Word or Excel submission would be so:

You should then e-mail your submission to ROMFI

Next Steps.

As soon as the submission is processed into ROMFI, you will be e-mailed immediately after your list has been uploaded so that you may have the first opportunity to fill in the Product details, and so "own the product page". As the detailer of a Product, you stake a claim on the ROMFI system, and by so doing, create a small monument to your interest and your knowledge. Everybody looking up that product will see that you were the one to add the product details. Also, for submitting Category Lists you gain ROMFI credits.

ROMFI Credits.

As with all submissions you will gain ROMFI Credits for your submission, either electronically (1 Credits per product) or by postage of an original catalogue or scans of an original catalogue. Credit allocation dependant on catalogue as well as a Quarter to full Credit per listed product (1/4 if we have to do the digitisation).

We look forward to working together with you on the incredible adventure that is the ROMFI Knowledgebase.

*With the donation of original Catalogues via post, we cannot guarantee a time-frame when data from these would appear on ROMFI as we have slight backlog already. Our criteria for the processing of catalogues is a combination of; age, interest and legal parameters. In short the more interesting the catalogue, the sooner the data will be processed into ROMFI. An electronic submission from another party overrides a paper submission.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

This page last updated 10 Febuary 2003