How to record and manage Acquisition items

Introduced with the Standard Model, Items data sources are used to document and track collection items involved in day to day activities like loans and exhibitions. In prior Model Applications, when a collection item is on loan its Catalogue record (with details about the item) links directly to a Loans record (with details about the loan); what is lacking is somewhere to record details about the item in the loan, to track the status of each item as it navigates the loan workflow, or to plan actions that impact an item's involvement in the loan. The same is true of items involved in acquisitions, exhibitions and collections audits. Items data sources fill this gap by providing a place to manage and document each item individually as it participates in activities like loans and exhibitions. They include Acquisition items, Exhibition items, Loan items and Collections audit items.

An overview of Items data sources can be found here.

In order to use the Create acquisition items task there must already be a record in the Catalogue for each item to be acquisitioned; typically there would already be a record for the acquisition event in Acquisitions and acquisition proposals (but it is possible to create an Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record on the fly in Step 3 below).

When the Create acquisition items task is run, a record is created in the Acquisition items data source for each record selected in the Catalogue:

• each Acquisition items record sits between the item's Catalogue record and the Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record for the acquisition event;
• the Objects | Loans | Entry panel in the Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record lists each item and links to the item's Catalogue and Acquisition items records.

To create one or more Acquisition items record:

1. In the Catalogue, mark Marking a record means selecting it by adding a tick to the record's checkbox in Result set View or Gallery View, and in Record Details View from Collections 1.15 onwards. One or more records can be marked and then actioned in some way (e.g. printed). one or more records in Result set View.

   Tip: Select more than one record if the details you complete at Step 3 (notably Item status) are the same for each item.

2. Select Create acquisition items from the Task drop list in the Result set View toolbar.

   The Create acquisition items pop-up will display:

   

3. Complete the fields in the Create acquisition items pop-up:

   Field	Details
   Acquisition number / acquisition_number (AN)	An Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record holds details about an acquisition event (a bequest for instance) that may involve multiple items, each one of which can be documented in its own Acquisition items record. Acquisition number is a Linked field A type of field used to link one record to another. A Linked field is a drop list of values (records that the field can link to). When a link is made, the field stores a reference to the linked record (a linkref). to the Acquisitions and acquisition proposals data source, which holds details of actual and proposed acquisitions. You document and manage the overall status and details of an acquisition event in an Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record; you document and manage the status and details of an individual item in an Acquisition items record. If you know the acquisition number for the acquisition event for this item, start keying it into the field and select it from the drop list when it displays: Otherwise click the Link icon to display the Find data for the field box; search for the relevant acquisition event or create a record for the acquisition and link to it (if authorized to do so). Details about working with the Find data for the field box can be found here.
   Item status / acquisition_item.status (sS)	The acceptance of an item into a collection is a journey tracked by changes in the item's status as it undergoes a process of approval. The Item status drop list holds the following statuses: pending approved completed rejected cancelled Select the current status in the acquisition approvals process of all items selected at Step 1. The status of each item is subsequently tracked and updated in the Acquisition items record for each item.
   Status date / acquisition_item.status_date (SD)	The date on which the status was set. Type a date or click the Calendar icon to select a date (details about date fields and how to use the Calendar can be found here).
   Status set by / acquisition_item.status_set_by (sB)	A Linked field A type of field used to link one record to another. A Linked field is a drop list of values (records that the field can link to). When a link is made, the field stores a reference to the linked record (a linkref). to Persons and institutions. Start typing the name of the person (typically you) who set the status and select it from the drop list, or click the Link icon to display the Find data for the field box; search for the relevant person or create a record in Persons and institutions and link to it (if authorized to do so). Details about working with the Find data for the field box can be found here.

   

4. Click OK to create the Acquisition items record(s).

   A record with these details is created in the Acquisition items data source for each item selected at Step 1. Each record is linked to the item's Catalogue record and to the acquisition record in the Acquisitions and acquisition proposals data source. A message indicates how many records were created and which Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record they are linked to:

   

In the Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record for the acquisition you will find that the Objects | Loans | Entry panel now includes details about the Acquisition items record(s) and Catalogue record(s) for items in the acquisition:

In the Catalogue record for each item, the Acquisition panel now includes details about the acquisition event from the Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record and the Acquisition item record:

The Add acquisition item records task creates one or more records in the Acquisition items data source linked to the Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record for the acquisition event through which the item(s) will / may enter the collection. There must be a record for the acquisition event in Acquisitions and acquisition proposals. Typically, this task is run when a proposed acquisition passes a given threshold, that is, following a Status change (determined by your institution).

It is not necessary to have a Catalogue record for each item in the acquisition and a Catalogue record is not created for each item by default; however, the task can create a Catalogue record for each item if required.

The material to be acquisitioned may be simple (one item) or complex (lots of different types of material). The Add acquisition item records task can accommodate these two extremes. It is assumed that you have assessed the material and categorized it (you know the number of items of each different type).

To create an Acquisition items record:

In Acquisitions and acquisition proposals, select the record for the acquisition event in Result set View.

1. Select Add acquisition item records from the Task drop list in the Result set View toolbar.

2. The Add acquisition item records pop-up will display:

   

3. Complete the fields in the Add acquisition item records pop-up.

   The acquisition material may be simple (one item) or complex (lots of different types of material). The Add acquisition item records pop-up can accommodate these two extremes.

   In this example, there are seven items (four photographs and three ceramics):

   Field	Details
   Count	Determines how many Acquisition items and, optionally, Cataloguerecords will be created. Note: Catalogue records are only created if the Generate checkbox is selected.
   General material type	A drop list of data sources. Select the data source that would best hold the material if it were accessioned: Archives catalogue Accessions Library catalogue Moving image catalogue Object catalogue Accessories If you select the Generate checkbox, one or more records (specified by Count) will be created in the data source selected here.
   Description	A description of the acquisition material. This text will display in Catalogue record Summary field and in the Description (description (BE)) field in any Catalogue records created (assuming you select the Generate checkbox). In this example we first add details about the four photographs: When you exit the Description field, the first three fields are repeated, enabling you to add details about other items as required. In this example, we add details about the three ceramics items: Again the first three fields are repeated and you could continue documenting different types of material covered by this acquisition event, or ignore them if you have no more items to add. Tip: A different data source can be selected from the General material type drop list if appropriate for the type of material being acquisitioned.
   Generate	(Optional) A checkbox. Select the checkbox to create a Catalogue record for each acquisition item. The number of records is determined by Count; and the data source(s) are specified in the General material type drop list.

4. Click OK:

   If you did NOT select the Generate checkbox - only Acquisition items record(s) are created

   A basic Acquisition items record is created for the total number specified in Count (seven in this case). A message indicates how many records were created and which Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record they are linked to:

   

   Each Acquisition items record is assigned a unique Reference number; is linked to the acquisition record in the Acquisitions and acquisition proposals data source; and has a Status of pending:

   

   If you did select the Generate checkbox - Catalogue records are ALSO created

   If you want to create a basic record for each item in the data source specified in the General material type drop list, select the Generate checkbox:

   

   For the total number specified in Count (seven in this case), a basic record is created in Acquisition items AND in the Catalogue(s) specified in General material type; these are linked to each other and to the acquisition record in Acquisitions and acquisition proposals.

   In the acquisition record you will find that the Objects | Loans | Entry panel includes details about the Acquisition items record(s) and Catalogue record(s) for items in the acquisition:

   

   In the Catalogue record for each item, the Acquisition panel includes details about the acquisition event from the Acquisitions and acquisition proposals record and the Acquisition items record:

   

   The Catalogue records have a:

   • Unique Object number (object_number (IN))
   • Legal status (legal_status (os)) of external
   • Activity status (activity_status (sa)) of acquisition candidate

   

The Acquisition item panel holds all of the detail you provided in the Create acquisition items pop-up:

Most of this information is read-only, however you would edit the record to update its Status as the item progresses through the approvals process:

When you change the current status and save the record, the previous status details are recorded on the Status history panel so that a complete log of status changes is retained, including who made the change and when:

Provide details about the initial valuation and the actual cost of this item. Most fields are self-explanatory and simple to use:

• Initial valuation:

  • Value (initial_valuation(T4)): a Linked field A type of field used to link one record to another. A Linked field is a drop list of values (records that the field can link to). When a link is made, the field stores a reference to the linked record (a linkref). to a detailed valuations record in the Valuation data source.
  • Date: auto-completed with details from the linked Valuation record.
  • Currency: auto-completed with details from the linked Valuation record.

• Price:

  • Offer price
  • Purchase price
  • Total cost
  • Currency: a Linked field A type of field used to link one record to another. A Linked field is a drop list of values (records that the field can link to). When a link is made, the field stores a reference to the linked record (a linkref). to the Currency data source for various currencies (EUR, USD, GBP, etc.).
  • Exchange rate
  • Exchange rate date

Associate media such as images, video and audio with the current record by linking to or uploading media:

Note: See Adding documents, URLs and PDFs above if linking digital documents (e.g. Word documents or PDFs) with the current record.

If the media you want to associate with the current record is already available in the Multimedia documentation data source, select the Link icon in the Reference field to open the Find data for the field box. Search for and select a media record to link to the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid grey background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. (full details about using the Find data for the field box can be found here).

If you want to upload new media and associate it with the current record, select the Upload option to locate a file accessible to your device. When a media file is uploaded and the current record is saved, a basic record is automatically created for the media in the Multimedia documentation data source, and it is linked to the current record's Reference field.

Once you save the current record, the media will be visible in Media viewer.

There is a lot more to working with media and full details can be found here.

On the Digital references panel we link to relevant digital documentation (Word docs, PDFs, URLs etc.):

Word docs and URLs (and other digital references) are linked to a record using a field with an Application data type such as File (File (RF)) on the Digital references panel. A field with an Application data type is associated with an application, such as a PDF reader; depending on your browser's configuration, clicking the underlined file name for a .pdf file will open the document in a browser tab:

Alternatively, click the Download icon to download and view the document.

Use these repeatable fields to link to one or more digital documents (Word docs, PDFs, URLs etc.) relevant to this acquisition item.

The Actions panel is a basic workflow tool designed for managing tasks (actions) relating to the current record. The type of action tracked depends on the data source you are working in (actions in the Catalogue will not necessarily be the same as actions in Loans for instance); actions might include anything from scheduling meetings, reviews, to photography sessions, etc. Managing tasks might entail scheduling an action (a meeting for instance), tracking an action's progress (the crate has been ordered) or documenting that an action has been performed (the object was moved). This functionality is not meant to replace dedicated project management software, but it can be used to prescribe standard procedural tasks (setting default actions) and to track and log tasks relating to the current record.

Default and conditional actions

Application Administrators can define default actions for any new record in the System admin – occurrence defaults data source.

If an action is required when certain conditions are met, occurrence defaults can be set up to facilitate this; for example, in Acquisitions and acquisition proposals a Send Deed of Gift action can be added when a record has an Acquisition method (method (sm)) of gift and a Status (current_status (sS)) of approved.

Provide details of various actions (selected from the Type field) that affect this item during its acquisition:

The purpose and use of many fields are clear and straightforward, and we only highlight those of particular importance below:

Most fields in Collections are intended to hold a specific piece of information (an object number, a title, a birth date, and so on) often defined by an industry standard (SPECTRUM or ISAD(G), for instance). Free fields, which are found on a Free fields panel typically near the bottom of the list of tabs in Record details View, provide more flexibility; while not new to Collections, their use in the past was mostly limited to holding data migrated from fields in legacy systems that had no obvious equivalent in Collections.

Note: In systems running Model Applications prior to the Standard Model, there is a single text type of free field.

The release of the Standard Model saw a significant increase in the number of fields and data sources available in Collections so that there is almost certainly a suitable field to hold your data without the need for customization. This has allowed for a new approach to the use of free fields in systems running the Standard Model, and Free fields panels are now intended as an alternative, where appropriate, to customization of the application. To that end, Free fields panels are now available across more data sources; and it is no longer necessary to store all types of data in a generic text field as there are now free fields to hold text, dates and numbers, and there is also a checkbox variant:

Their use is straightforward. You specify the purpose of the field in Type (name the field) and enter the value in the Content field:

Note: As values in the Type field are managed in the System lists data source1 Available in Axiell Collections systems running the Standard Model application., Application Administrators ($ADMIN users) are free to add new values as required.

As each group of fields on the Free fields panel (Texts, Dates, Checkboxes, Numbers) is a repeatable group of fields, you can use the Occurrences drop list in the Record details View toolbar to add / remove / move a group of fields.

If there is no native field for a piece of data, consider whether a free field can be used to hold it, avoiding the need to customize the application.

The current status of the acquisition item is shown on the Acquisition item panel. Any time the current status details are changed and the record is saved, the previous status details are recorded on the Status history panel, ensuring that a complete log of status changes is maintained: