Victorian Collections users care for diverse collections, sometimes even cross-disciplinary collections. You may be a social history museum with public record archives, an art gallery that also holds a local heritage object collestion, or an RSL with a reference library.
With this in mind, Victorian Collections offers its users four different record categories. For each item you catalogue, you will be able to select an Object, Artwork, Publication or Archive record category.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
It is important to note that within one collection, you may have many sub-collections and item types which require different styles of management and therefore different record categories. You may find that you use one or more record categories across your catalogue.
Items collected for historic or scientific interestThis might include three-dimensional objects, paper documents (stand-alone items that are not archives, e.g. historical photographs, maps, letters), books that are not for public lending (e.g. rare of historic books), and digital items (e.g. oral histories, films).
Artworks or or works of artistic craftsmanshipItems catalogued using this record category could be two or three dimensional, or digital. This record category includes additional fields to record Artist Statement, Credit Line, and Mounting and Framing information.
Publications that are available to be borrowed or read by the public or members of your organisation.This record category is suitable for cataloguing any publication (e.g. magazines). Typically, these publications will be commercially available or not one-of-a-kind items. This record category includes additional fields to record the ISBN, Subjects, Series, Editions, Summary and to identify the item as Fiction or Non-Fiction.
Documents, photographs, maps or correspondence in your collection that are considered archives in a more formal sense due to their shared provenance, function or a particular style of arrangement.This record category includes additional fields to record the Archival Unit Type, Format, Start/End Date, Provenance, Purpose/Function, Arrangement and Content.