Data entry worksheet: Preserving images and decorations of Persian manuscripts and lithographed books

The printed catalogues of Persian manuscripts and lithographs are often organized according to bibliographical entries and all information about images or decorations (Head Chapters, Illuminations, explicit, etc.) are either ignored or mostly classified under other entries. This issue, which shows the main approach of cataloguers in providing text related information, limits researchers’ access to detailed information about images and decorations, thus limiting researches done on the subject. This lack of information proves the need for collecting the existing data entry worksheets for manuscripts and lithographs, as well as adding images and decorations to them. This article studies 246 catalogues of Persian manuscripts and lithographs – published between 1926 and 2012 – and presents a new data entry worksheet accordingly – with emphasis on their images and decorations.