Physical Qualification of Manuscripts

Abstract

Studies on bibliographic control of manuscripts in Turkey have mostly become a current issue, and several manuscript catalogues have been published until today. These studies are quite important in qualifying manuscripts; however they are insufficient especially for physical/ artistic descriptions. This insufficiency results from the workers' lack of enough information on physical description of manuscripts in cataloguing. Bibliographic description of manuscripts, especially to determine all physical characteristics and to reflect the artistic value of the work, is a different field of expertise. The purpose of the article is to give basic information on physical qualifications of manuscripts belonging to the Ottoman period and to be a source for creating a standard in catalogue records. This standardization in catalogue records will contribute to presenting catalogue records of high quality and manuscripts into service.