FAQ | Q&A | ISSUES

What does an efmnhtransactions record represent?

A Transaction module record represents the flow of specimens/Objects into and out of the museum. It contains Acquisition (for Exhibitions), Accessions, some Deaccessions (if involved in a transfer of multiple objects/specimens out of museum) and Loans.

• An accession is the formal, permanent acceptance of specimens, cultural objects, or other materials into the Museum’s permanent collections through donation, fieldwork, purchase, etc. Botany & Insects - An accession can be both a gift and an exchange
• A donation is a transfer of ownership and legal title of objects or specimens to the Museum during the donor’s lifetime with nothing received in return.
• A bequest is an incoming Gift whereby ownership and legal title are transferred via the donor’s will after the donor’s death.
• An exchange is a reciprocal transfer of materials between two or more parties.
• Fieldwork is direct acquisition or collection of objects or specimens from the field by Field Museum staff.
• A purchase is when the Museum in good faith buys an object through auction, dealers, or from a private individual.
• A partial gift is when the Field Museum pays less than the value of the objects or specimens and the other portion is donated.
• A loan transaction record represents the tracking of the movement of specimens/artifacts in or out of the building.

Current Sub class Status

Subclassed?: Yes This is a Field Museum specific module

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Tab Switching:

• Column Name: SumAction
• Lookup List: Transaction Catalog
• Tab switching: Yes

Record Types:

Accession.

• Used for tracking the addition of groups of objects/specimens into the permanent collection through a donation, fieldwork, bequest, purchase, etc.

Acquisition

• Used for the legal acquisition of objects in the Anthropology study collection through donation, fieldwork, purchase, etc.
• Used to track the acquisition of items, such as exhibition props, by the exhibition department.
• These are not part of the accessioned permanent collections, but can be used in outreach and analysis with a lower standard of care.

Deaccession.

• Used to track deaccessions (removal of an object from the permanent collections) of groups of objects.

Loan.

• Used for tracking of the movement of specimens/artifacts in or out of the building.
• Replaces current "transaction" record type.

Record Structure:

Network; There are attachments to records of the same module (but different actions) but no hierarchy exists ie they are lateral attachments eg new Deaccession action can be attached to a Accession record.

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Fields

Mandatory

Unique

Ditto Skip

Insert Deafults

Query Defaults

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Software Dependencies

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Resources -> Tools

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STRUCTURAL CHANGES - Rationale

Reason(s) for Change Request [version 3]

Standardise the use of the module to make it more efficient and reflect consolidation of internal processes and workflows. Prepare for newer versions of EMu by not transferring bad data structures and dirty data.

Status

• Proposed

Details

• Consolidate feature set, functionality and links for all departments. Expand for use by Exhibitions department
• Consolidate across workflows e.g., between catalogued & uncatalogued items
• Better integrate with existing modules. In particular erights, emovements. Attach records rather than enter free/detached text
• Automate read-through of data wherever possible e.g. object descriptions data from catalogue into objects table
• Reduce redundancy in data structure. Remove duplicated fields, reduce the number of tabs, reduce and streamline look up tables.
• Make reporting more efficient and reliable. Sharing reports where possible.
• Streamline connections to the catalogue for object counts
• Make Return Objects work properly/better. Use autofill or read-through of data wherever possible. Increase consistency of data through validation
• Improve notification functionality. For scheduled reminders. For warnings on data changes
• Fix existing issues. Additional rows added to object tables.