Authority data sources

Several data sources that are a little different from the others are the Thesaurus, System lists1, Persons and institutions and the Geographical thesaurus. Known as Authority data sources, these are used for vocabulary control and they manage the many names and terms referenced by records in almost every other data source:

Authority data source	Details
Thesaurus	Contains records of important terms referenced by many fields throughout Axiell Collections. Terms can be organized hierarchically and contain source information.
System lists	System lists and the Thesaurus are datasets A record number range in a database table used to group similar types of records. A database table will always have one dataset (with the full range of record numbers), but there may be one or more sub-divisions within this record number range. It is possible to work with (e.g. search) a sub-divided dataset or the full dataset (each sub-division simultaneously). Each dataset is considered a data source in its own right. in the same database and their records are defined in the same way, but its purpose is more narrowly focussed on lists of values that must be used consistently and without ambiguity when documenting collection items, processes and activities. These system lists are found in key Linked fields 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). throughout Collections and hold values such as condition terms, method types, action types, fee activities, acquisition reasons and methods, units, and so on; these are values that users must use consistently when documenting collection items, processes and activities. For this reason access to System lists is restricted to users assigned the `$ADMIN` role (typically Application Administrators): only authorized users are able to modify (edit or add to) the values available in these system lists. This is arguably the key characteristic of System lists: users can select its values in Linked fields but only administrators can manage those values. More details here.
Persons and institutions	Contains records of people and organizations involved with your collection in some way. As well as serving as an authoritative list of names for many fields throughout Axiell Collections, it is possible to record extensive biographical, contact, relationship, and other information about people and institutions interacting with your collection.
Geographical thesaurus	Contains records of place names referenced by many fields throughout Axiell Collections, and a source of information about such places. Places can be organized hierarchically and plotted on a map. Details There are two types of geolocation field available in Axiell Collections: A Geographical Information System (GIS) field, which has a GeoJSON data type. -AND- A field with a Geolocation data type. Both types of field store a location that can be displayed on a map, and both allow a location to be selected on a map and saved to the field, but they do so differently. GIS functionality is a more recent addition to Axiell Collections and has superseded the earlier Geolocation approach to location mapping. When GIS functionality is enabled in your system, locations are recorded in the Geographical thesaurus and location fields throughout Collections can link to a record in this data source. Any of these linked locations in the current The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. or selected records will then display on a map (details about geolocation fields and working with maps available here). Depending on how your system has been set up, it may be possible to search for locations on the Standard tab of the Search box. A searchable GIS field is identified by a map icon: Searching for one or more locations involves selecting a geolocation search operator (typically within) and marking a map (specifying an area or location on a map); when the search is run, records with a location in or near the specified area / location will be returned. You will find details about searching geolocation fields here.

The purpose of a controlled vocabulary is to ensure consistent use of names and terms throughout your records and this is achieved by specifying that a name or term is preferred; then when a non-preferred version of a name or term is selected in 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). drop list, it is automatically replaced with the preferred name or term.

Other relationships between terms / names are also managed in Authority data sources. In the Thesaurus and System lists we can build hierarchical relationships between terms (broader, narrower, related and equivalent) and in Persons and institutions we can identify pseudonyms and equivalent names. And, finally, we manage the status of terms and names in Authority data sources by indicating whether they are approved, obsolete, rejected, etc.

Linking records and vocabulary control go hand-in-hand: the Authority data sources hold records for names and terms and fields in your other data sources link to these records.

Relationships between terms / names managed in Authority data sources

The following table describes the fields used to specify relationships between records in Authority data sources (refer to the images above):

Field name		Details
Thesaurus	Persons and institutions	Details
Term / term (te)	Name / name (BA)	The term / name saved to the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance.. This is an indexed and mandatory field. Terms and names do not need to be unique (an identical name for a different person can be registered in its own record for instance).
Term type / term.type (do)	Name type / name.type (do)	A drop list of domains. A domain is a named subset of records, grouping similar sorts of records. When a search field or 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). is associated with a domain, only records in that domain are available to that field. In a data source with many records, this greatly simplifies the selection of a record. For example, records for authors can be assigned to the AUTHOR domain. When linking a record for a book to a record for its author, the Author Linked field will point to the AUTHOR domain, a subset of records in Persons and institutions exclusively for authors. Domains A data source such as Persons and institutions holds records for many different types of people (artists, authors, staff, and so on) as well as organizations. To help categorize these different types of records, Collections uses domains. A domain is a named subset of records in a data source (your Application Administrator typically defines which domains are available). When adding or editing a record it is possible to assign a record to a domain: in Persons and institutions, for example, a record is assigned to a domain using the Name type (name.type (do)) field: In the Thesaurus we use the Term type (term.type (do)) field to assign a term to a domain. Linked fields are typically associated with a domain: for example, when linking an object to a record for the object's creator, the Creator Linked field only lists records for people where Name type = creator. More details Details about linking records and domains can be found here.
Use / use (us)	Use / use (us)	If the value recorded in term (te) / name (BA) in the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. is non-preferred, we can specify the preferred term / names here. Note: It is possible to specify more than one preferred term / name by adding an occurrence of the Use field. When a value is specified in use (us): we are stating that the term / name in the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. is non-preferred and if it is selected from a list, the preferred term / name will be used instead; do not add values to any other Relations fields (Thesaurus) or Other forms of name fields (Persons and institutions) as the current record is for a non-preferred term / name. Note: The record for the term / name specified in use (us) should not itself have a value in use (us). When you define a Use relation in the current record, the related record(s) are automatically updated. For example, if you save the following record: Term = bike Use = bicycle the record for bicycle will update to show: Used for = bike
Used for / used_for (uf)	Used for / used_for (uf)	If the value recorded in term (te) / name (BA) in the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. is preferred, we can specify the non-preferred term / names here. When a value is specified in used_for (uf): we are stating that the term / name in the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. is preferred; if a term / name recorded in used_for (uf) is selected from a list, the preferred term / name will be used instead; it is not possible to enter a term / name in Use in the current record. When you define a Used for relation in the current record, the related record(s) are automatically updated. For example, if you save the following record: Term = bike Use = bicycle the record for bicycle will update to show: Use = bike Anywhere that the non-preferred value has been used will be replaced automatically with the preferred value.
Broader term / Narrower term broader_term (bt) / narrower_term (nt)		Broader term and Narrower term are used to build hierarchical relationships between terms in the Thesaurus: when we add a term to the Broader term field, we define more general concepts for the term in the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance.; when we add a term to the Narrower term field, we define more specific concepts for the term in the current record. When you define Broader term and Narrower term relations in the current record, the related record(s) are automatically updated. For example, if you save the following record: Term = road vehicles Broader term = vehicles Narrower term = motor vehicles the record for vehicles will update to show: Narrower term = road vehicles the record for motor vehicles will update to show Broader term = road vehicles More details See Standard search and Advanced search for details about how hierarchical operators are used when searching.
Related term / related_term (rt)		Specify terms that are related to the term in the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance.. Related terms are like see also references. When you define a Related term in the current record, the related record(s) are automatically updated. For example, if you save the following record: Term = motor vehicles Related term = road vehicle engineering the record for road vehicle engineering will update to show: Related term = motor vehicles More details See Standard search and Advanced search for details about how hierarchical operators are used when searching.
Equivalent term / equivalent_term (et)	Equivalent / equivalent_name (et)	Equivalent terms have the same meaning as the term in the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance.. Equivalent terms can be used in various keywords fields in Catalogue records. When you define an Equivalent term in the current record, the related record(s) are automatically updated. For example, if you save the following record: Term = cm Equivalent term = centimetres the record for centimetres will update to show: Equivalent term = cm More details See Standard search and Advanced search for details about how the equivalent operator is used when searching.
	Pseudonym for / pseudonym_for (PF)	If the name recorded in name (BA) in the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. is a pseudonym, specify the proper name in the pseudonym_for (PF) field. Typically you would not add any other personal details to the current record as those details belong in the record for the proper name. When you specify a name in pseudonym_for (PF) in the current record, the record for the proper name is automatically updated. For example, if you save the following record: Name = `Kopland, Rutger` Pseudonym for = `Hoofdakker, Rutger Hendrik van den` the record for `Hoofdakker, Rutger Hendrik van den` will update to show: Pseudonym = `Kopland, Rutger` Note: A pseudonym relationship is somewhere between a preferred and an equivalent relation: there is a hierarchical relationship between names in a pseudonym relationship but no non-preferred term substitution will take place.
	Pseudonym / pseudonym (PS)	If the name recorded in name (BA) in the current record The record currently displayed in Record details View or highlighted (with a solid background) in Result set View or Gallery View for instance. has one or more pseudonyms, specify the pseudonym(s) in the repeatable pesudonym (PS) field. When you specify a name in pesudonym (PS) in the current record, the record for the pseudonym is automatically updated. For example, if you save the following record: Name = `Hoofdakker, Rutger Hendrik van den` Pseudonym = `Kopland, Rutger` the record for `Kopland, Rutger` will update to show: Pseudonym for = `Hoofdakker, Rutger Hendrik van den`

Status management of terms / names

Terms and names recorded in Authority data sources can be assigned a status indicating whether the term / name is approved, obsolete, rejected, etc.:

Term / name status

Term statuses can include:

Status	Details
undefined	No status has been assigned yet.
approved preferred term	Assigned to approved preferred terms / names.
approved non-preferred term	Assigned to terms / names that have been officially recognized to be non-preferred.
candidate	Assigned to terms / names that are yet to be checked or approved. When a record has been added to an Authority data sources from a different data source (by using Create entry for instance when linking records in the Find data for the field box) it is assigned a status of candidate, indicating that it has not yet been approved. Candidate terms do not appear in the Find data for the field box by default, but can be listed by enabling the Show candidate terms option. Details here.
obsolete	Assigned to terms / names that are considered to be obsolete but may still be used.
rejected	Assigned to terms / names that have been rejected. Assigning a status of rejected rather than deleting a term / name, should ensure that no one attempts to add it again and approve it as it is present in the data source but clearly rejected.
group	Used for managing terms in the Thesaurus: it is assigned to a term that conceptually groups other terms and that can be part of the term hierarchy, but it is not a term that a catalogue record will link to. Example Here we see a term hierarchy for body armour in the Thesaurus: armour armour (by construction) mail armour plate armour scale armour armour (by form) cuirass gambeson gauntlet helmet leg guard shoulder plate armour (by function) battle armour horse armour parade armour The three highlighted terms are assigned the `group` status as they are useful for distinguishing / grouping terms in the hierarchy, but they are not terms that should be linked to in a catalogue record. Rules and guidelines Terms assigned the group status: Can be linked as a broader or narrower term in the Authority database (enabling them to be included in a term hierarchy). Are indexed and searchable in the Thesaurus. Cannot be linked to in Catalogue records that link to the Thesaurus. Can be searched for and selected in the Find data for the field box (from 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). in a Catalogue record) - they will be marked with a green, square icon) but only non-group terms can be copied to the Linked field. Should not be assigned as preferred as they cannot be used in the catalogue.

Authority data sources

Rules and guidelines