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If getting started with Axiell Collections seems daunting, don't panic. Take a moment to understand these four key concepts about Collections and you will find that the application is far less complex than it may appear at first glance:

Records, data sources, fields and links

Records: a record contains the information you need to know about an item in your collection, an important person, a storage location in your organization, and so on.
Data sources: different types of records are stored in different data sources The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on., each designed to store a specific type of information:
- Records for people and organizations involved in some way with your collection are held in Persons and institutions;
- Records for places and containers where your collection items can be found are held in Locations and containers; and so on.
You will find more details about data sources here.
Fields: records are made up of fields. Each field holds a single piece of information: the creator of an object, the date an object was created, the material it was made from, and so on.

Fields can behave differently depending on the information they hold: a date field is used differently from a field that holds a title, for example.

The more fields there are in a record, the easier it is to search for, report on, and edit your data.

You will find details about different types of field here.
Links: an important type of field is the 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)., which we use to link related records in different data sources together.
For instance, details about a museum item are recorded in the Object catalogue, and details about the item's creator are recorded in Persons and institutions; these two records are linked using a Linked field in the Object catalogue record called creator (VV). Once the records are linked, we can run a search in the Object catalogue for objects created by an artist whose details are recorded and maintained in Persons and institutions.
Linking records saves time and can help improve the quality and consistency of your data: for instance, data about the creator can be entered once and then linked wherever it is required; any changes to that data only need to be made in one location, a record in Persons and institutions in this case.
You will find details about linking records here.

As you start working with Collections you will see that there are hundreds or even thousands of fields, but you will find that they all have the same few basic behaviours: numerous fields can be linked together, but they are all linked in the same way for instance. Once you understand how to work with a small part of Collections, you will be able to use the entire application.

And keep in mind that all you need to know about working with Collections can be found in this Help, and if more assistance is required, our Support team is there for you.

Log in and out of Collections

To access your organization's Collections installation you will need its web address (URL):

Navigate to your organization's Collections installation in your preferred browser.
Your Application Administrator can provide you with the URL for your organization's Collections installation.
A login screen will display requesting a username and password:
Forgot your password?
Information for Application Administrators

Details about configuring this function can be found here.

If enabled in your system, a Forgot your password? link will display on the login screen, allowing you to reset your password:

Note: If your Collections system has been set up to use Active Directory authentication, this will change the user's Windows password.
1. Click the link to display a second login screen in which you enter or confirm your user name and then click Request new password:
2. A third login screen will display and a code is emailed to you; copy and paste the code into the Code field:
3. When Confirm code is clicked a final login screen displays in which you enter your new password (twice):
4. Click Reset password to confirm the change.
Enter your Collections username and password.
Your username is the key to working with Axiell Collections
Axiell Collections features a comprehensive and granular access rights system based on roles (also called user groups). All users have an account identified by a unique username, and every account is assigned to a role. Access to every aspect of Collections from data sources The management of a collection can involve a vast amount of information about objects / items / books, people and organizations, events, administration and more. This information is stored as records in data sources. Each data source stores a specific type of information: details about collection items, people, events, loans, and so on. to fields, functionality and more is determined by the permissions assigned to this role.
When you log in to Collections all of the permissions assigned to you are assessed and the system is customized accordingly.
You can read about roles and access rights here.
Your Application Administrator can provide you with your username and password.
Change your password
The Account option in the Main menu may include an option to change your password. This option is not available by default and is only possible if Active Directory or Adlib Database authentication in systems built on an Adlib system is used by your organization to manage permissions and access to Axiell Collections:
If this option is available, you can change the password you use to log into Axiell Collections.
Note: If you are using Active Directory credentials to log into Axiell Collections, using this option will change your Windows password.
1. Select Account>Change password from the Main menu.
  The Change password box will display:
2. Complete all fields and select OK.
  A message will indicate the success or failure of the password change.
Click Sign in.

If Two-factor authentication is enabled in your system, you will be asked to provide a one-time unique code:
Two-factor authentication
Information for Application Administrators

Details about configuring this function can be found here.

If enabled in your system, you will be required to provide a one-time unique code as well as your password when logging in to Collections.

When you click Sign in a second login screen displays and you will receive an email with an authentication code:
1. Copy the code and paste it into the Authentication code field:
2. Click Sign in on this screen to log you into Collections.

You are logged in to Axiell Collections. To begin working with your collections data, select an option from the Main menu:

Main menu

All of these options are described here.

When you are finished working with Collections it is good practice to log out: do not simply close the browser tab in which you were working or close the browser itself.

Not only is it more secure to log out rather than simply to close the browser or tab, your licence is immediately freed-up and available to other users in your organization.

Select the data source to work with

When you log in to Axiell Collections, the primary feature of the User Interface is the Main menu:

Typically you will want to:

Add a new record: select New in the Main menu
-OR-
Search for one or more existing records: select Search in the Main menu.

In both cases the Select data source box will display, listing data sources you are authorized to work with.

In Collections we work in a single data source at a time: we search for records in Persons and institutions for instance, and we edit records in that data source; when we add a new record, the first thing we do is select the data source to which the record will be added. Although we work in a single data source, we have access to information in many other data sources because records in different data sources are linked together (details above).

The Select data source box is a little different when adding and searching records (explained here), but the principle is the same in both cases: we must first select which data source we want to work with.

Here we see the Select data source box that displays when searching for records:

Note: From Collections version 1.15 onwards it is possible to customize which data sources are listed in the Select data source box, and in what order. Details here.

To start searching for records or adding a new record, select the data source you wish to work with and click OK or press ENTER.

Full details about:

Adding a new record can be found here.
Searching for one or more existing records can be found here.

In Collections we work with records in one or more Display Views, each of which displays in its own pane within the Axiell Collections Window1. Different Views serve different purposes (Help View provides users with a description of a field's purpose and other data entry instructions) or provide a different view of the data in your records (the Media viewer displays all image, video, and audio files linked to the current record).

Each View has its own toolbar with options for working with records in that View. For instance, you typically add and edit records in Record details View and this View's toolbar includes options for adding a new record, editing the current record, adding an occurrence If a field in the current record can have more than one value, we add an occurrence of the field for each value (e.g. a book can have multiple authors so we add an occurrence of the author.name (au) field for each author). An occurrence can be a member of a group of fields, and adding an occurrence of the field adds all members of the group at once. of a field to the current record, and so on.

More details

A description of all features of the Axiell Collections User interface from options in the Main menu through to a description of different types of fields can be found here.
Details about how to work with your records in each of the Display Views can be found here.