Attachments

In EMu the information about your collection is stored in various modules, each specific to the type of information recorded. For example, the Catalogue module records details about the items in your collection; the Parties module stores information about people and organisations involved with your collection in any way.

Where records in different modules relate to each other, they are linked together through a simple process called Attachment (definitions of the Attachment terminology are available below). For example:

  • An item recorded in the Catalogue module would attach to:
    • One or more records in the Parties module which specify the item collection manager and/or curator.
    • A record in the Accession Lots module which specifies the acquisition source and method for the item.
  • An Internal Movements record would attach to a record in the Locations module which specifies the details of a given location.
  • A Loans record would attach to a record in the Catalogue module for the object on loan and to a record in the Parties module which specifies the party to whom the object is on loan.

An attachment field is a field in a module that can be linked to a related record in another module. It can be identified by the Attachment Attach and View Attachment View Attachments buttons beside it, e.g. the Borrower/Lender: (Loan Details) field:

Loans module

Note: The View Attachment View Attachments button is greyed out until an attachment is made.

As we see in How to make, view and delete attachments there are several methods you can use to attach records.