Recent Topics
VC Helpdesk unmonitored - Easter and ANZAC public holidays
Dear VC Community, Please note that due to the Easter and ANZAC public holidays, our Helpdesk will not be monitored on Friday 18th, Monday 21st and Friday 25th of April. Warm regards, The VC Team
CMS updates: visual refresh - March 2025
The VC CMS is getting its first major visual and interface refresh since its relaunch in 2020. These changes will take effect overnight on Tuesday, ready for users on Wednesday 19th March. What can I expect? An updated colour palette Adjustments to some
CMS updates: additional interface settings for a more responsive layout – July 2024
As the Victorian Collections community uses the VC CMS across many different devices, it’s important for the web design behind the CMS to be responsive. Responsive web design is an approach centered on ensuring web pages render well on all screen sizes
CMS updates: addition of 'Date of creation' to Query builder and changes to media download - May 2024
The VC team would like to take this opportunity to share two updates to the VC CMS: 'Date of creation' field added to Query builder To assist users to search their catalogue, the Date of creation field has been added to the Query builder, so that this
CMS updates: changes to catalogue view settings - March 2024
Victorian Collections has introduced new functionality to increase your ability to manage and personalise your catalogue view settings. Catalogue table view settings are now accessible via the ellipsis button at the left of the column headers. You can
CMS updates: additions to Dimensions table and Item type control list - March 2024
The VC team would like to take this opportunity to share two updates to the VC CMS, to assist with recording Dimensions and Item type selection. Diameter added to Dimensions table To assist with recording the accurate measurements items that are circular
New CMS functionality: Resolving duplicate Party records via ‘Reassign Party Links’ - March 2024
Victorian Collections has introduced new functionality in our latest system update - the Reassign Party Links action. This action is made from within an individual Party record in an organisation’s Parties catalogue, and is designed to assist cataloguers
2023 announcement from the National Library of Australia: Trove Partners
We are pleased to share with the VC Community the National Library of Australia's recent 'Making History with Trove' announcement on 30 November 2023 about the Trove Partners program. Trove is inviting community-led, volunteer-run, and rural and regional
CMS updates: Display of Parent-Child relationships - Nov 2023
The VC team would like to take this opportunity to share a recent update to the VC CMS, made to assist cataloguers with viewing and understanding linked Parent-Child relationships in their catalogue. Record Family view While in the Relationships section
CMS updates: Additions to Item type control list - Oct 2023
The VC team would like to take this opportunity to share an update to the VC CMS, to assist with Item type selection. Item types added to control list The Item type field is a top-level category within Victorian Collections that accurately describes the
Items - Accessories
Hi, new to this platform and wondering what people are using the Accessory item type for. I have found that things like cuff links, for example fit under Clothing, so it peaked my interest :-) Btw, loved VC Day last week, Buda was beautiful, speakers
Updates to Google Analytics - June 2023
Victorian Collections provides users with data from Google Analytics on a by request basis. This data can help your organisation to better understand how and what the public are viewing from your collection. It’s important to note that types of analytics
CMS updates: Additions to Item type control list and changes to Duplicate record functionality - Mar 2023
The VC team would like to take this opportunity to share two updates to the VC CMS made earlier this week, to assist with Item type selection, and using the Duplicate record functionality. 1. Item types added to control list The Item type field is a top-level
Entering people's names in VC
I'm interested to know how people deal with the variety of ways people are named. In particular we include people as Subjects for our items so how do you handle the following types of names ... Nicknames/other given names - eg footballer Buddy FRANKLIN
CMS updates: Changes to Party Records view - Oct 2022
We’d like to take the opportunity to share new changes to the VC CMS regarding managing Party records. These updates are the first step in developing the Party records functionality to support future features to improve productivity and enhance workflows
Updated Helpdesk URL
In recent months, our Helpdesk provider Zoho have begun transitioning across to a simplified domain URL format for their help centres. The Victorian Collections Helpdesk can now be found at victoriancollectionshelp.zohodesk.com. The VC team will be
CMS Updates: Changes to filter, search and bookmark queries implemented - March 2022
Announcing changes to the CMS that have been implemented and also reflected in the Manuals on the Helpdesk if you need more information. Filter > ability to include/exclude Deaccessioned items Bookmarked queries > easy to find location to save your frequently
Acquisitions
Since I began using Victorian Collections, I have known that the fields on the Acquisitions page are not viewable in a Public view of a record. Apropos of this, when I arrived at our archive today I was met with an angry.question from a donor as to why
Researching the origins of brass band music
I'm starting this discussion to share useful resources when tracing the origins of Brass Band music. I have found information to be scarce online but perhaps there are other locations where this information can be sourced (such as libraries).
Public Searching within an Organisations Collection
I find it so frustrating that only 3 records are available when searching withing an organisations collection (public view). I often have over 100 items to scroll through and having to click through 3 at a time is not only time consuming, but physically
Scanning & Digitising
I wanted to open up a wide ranging discussion about scanning and digitising to which you might like to contribute. At the 2021 Victorian Collections Day, Maxine Holden provided a session on digitisation. Based on this I had a subsequent discussion with
Searching VC from Historical Society's website
I am from the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society (PMHPS). I would like to include the ability to search our collection in VC directly from the PMHPS website. Has anyone done anything like this or know how it could be done? The best I
VC Day online presentation Tuesday 7th September
Our VC Day will still be THREADING-CONNECTIONS-COLLECTIONS but has had to change to an online event. Our regional colleagues are still encouraged to plan a visit to our intended hosts, the National Wool Museum in Geelong, but would like you to join us
Archive Record Template
Dear colleagues I am the 'archivist' of the Kew Historical Society, and manage a collection of which archives is a part. I had to admit that when using the new Archive Record Template, it has required me to learn a lot about archives that I didn't know. I've found the following document produced by the National Library of Australia quite useful in understanding key concepts unpinning archives. 'Preserving Australia's Documentary Heritage: A starter kit for community groups'. <https://www.nla.gov.au/sites/default/files/starterkitcommunity.pdf>.
Search results on Victorian Collections
Dear Forum Members I hope this post doesn't sound like carping as I know that the new VC is still in the development phase. However, while there are many improvements in the search capability of Victorian Collections, there are a number of aspects that
Public Searching with an Organisation
Hi everyone, I've been trying to do a public search within my organisation via the new CMS. Has anyone worked out how to do it yet? I often abswer enquiries by sending the url of a public search I have conducted, but at the moment I can only search all
The new VC Cataloguing Manual has arrived!
We're pleased to announce that the comprehensive Victorian Collections User Manual is now available! We're providing you with a few options so that your copy of the Manual is best suited to the collection you manage: If you have a mixed collection, with
Resources for new members
Question or discussion? I have recently admitted a new cataloguer to our group and was looking in the knowledge base for a general introduction to cataloguing using the new VCMS. Does anyone have any recommendations about suitable resources to provide an introduction and overview? Normally I would offer face-to-face training but this is not possible now. Robert
Welcome to the VC Community Forum!
Welcome to your VC Community Forum! One of the strengths of Victorian Collections has always been the community that supports it. Now we're providing a space for our users to interact, problem-solve and share that support with one another. If you're looking for answers, want to share a great resource or looking for advice on broader collection management issues, this forum is your go-to place for solutions and inspiration. LEARN TOGETHER To troubleshoot a technical function of the VC Collection