Parties module
The Parties module holds information about individuals and organisations with some involvement with the activities of the museum and its collection. Parties can be artists, authors, manufacturers, donors, collectors, researchers, staff, conservators, carriers, exhibition organisers, insurers, lending and borrowing institutions, and so on.
Information that can be recorded includes name, various addresses and phone numbers, email and web addresses, biographical and historic information. The Parties module provides support for synonymy of names (i.e. one identity known by several names) and is compatible with the Getty Union List of Artists' Names.
A Party may be an individual, a group or department within an institution; or an external individual, group or organisation.
- Source or vendor of an object
- Organiser of an event or exhibition
- Borrower or lender of an object
- Author, contributor or publisher of an object
- Owner or maker of an object
- Photographer who created an image
- Artist who created an illustration or work
- Copyright manager
- Person who verified taxonomic details for an object
- Site owner
- Recipient for an object in a collection event
- Participant in a collection event
- Contact person responsible for the internal or external movement of an object
- Object packer, transporter, movement supervisor, or requester
- Person or organisation involved in the conservation and maintenance of an object
- Person who supervises the conservation of an object
- Insurer and / or indemnifier of an object
- Author of a narrative
- Person responsible for the condition checks of an object
- Valuer of an object
- Donor of an object
A record is created in the Parties module for each party, recording personal, contact, address and role details.
As a Party may be connected with many
Each Party in the Parties module is assigned a Party Type:
The Party Type field is a tab switching Dynamic adjustment of the tabs displayed in a module based on a user's choices (e.g. different sets of tabs display when "Person" or "Organisation" are selected from the Party Type drop list in the Parties module). field, which means that the fields and tabs that display in the Parties module will vary depending on which Party Type is selected.
Common Party Types include:
A Person Party Type is used to record details about an individual person with a connection to your institution
A person assigned a Person Party Type can also be associated with an organisation but it is this individual who has the connection with the institution rather than their role or position within an organisation. In this case you create a Person Party Type and record details about their organisation on the Organisation tab. (See also Position parties.)
If the relationship with the Organisation were the primary relationship, you would create an Organisation Party Type.
The main tabs you would use to record details for a Person Party Type are:
Tab |
Description |
---|---|
Person |
The person's name, gender and language. |
Organisation |
Details about the organisation to which the person belongs, including their position within the structure of the organisation. |
Address |
The person's (or their organisation's) postal and physical address. |
Roles |
Roles that the person plays and any areas of speciality. |
Associations |
People, groups, organisations associated with the person. |
Biography |
Biographical details about the person, e.g. date of birth, period of activity, and heritage. |
Synonymy |
Links to other Parties records that are synonymous with the person. |
A Position Party Type is used to record a specific position within an organisation or department rather than a specific individual.
For example, the Collection Curator within the Fine Arts department can be assigned a Position Parties record. When a new acquisition or object is recorded a link can be made to this Position Parties record rather than to a Person Parties record (which would record the personal details of the current collection curator). This means that the link will still be correct even if the current curator leaves this position and a new collection curator is appointed.
Note: It is preferable to check out object loans to a Position rather than to a Person.
The main tabs you would use to record details for a Position Party Type are:
Tab |
Description |
---|---|
Person |
The name, gender and language of the individual currently holding the position. |
Organisation |
Details about the organisation in which the position operates. |
Address |
The organisation's postal and physical address. |
Synonymy |
Links to other Parties records that are synonymous with the position. |
An Organisation Party Type is used to record details of an organisation rather than an individual.
The main tabs you would use to record details for an Organisation Party Type are:
Tab |
Description |
---|---|
Organisation |
The organisation's name(s) and structure. |
Address |
The organisation's postal and physical address. |
Roles |
Roles that the organisation plays and areas of specialty. |
Associations |
People, groups, organisations associated with the organisation. |
History |
Historical details about the organisation, including period of activity. |
Synonymy |
Links to other Parties records that are synonymous with the organisation. |
A Collaboration Party Type is used to group two or more Parties that work together with a common purpose or task.
Note: Before a Collaboration record can be created, all members must first have individual Parties records in the Parties module.
The advantage of using a Collaboration Parties record is evident when a group of Parties regularly collaborate. If it is often necessary to link to each of the Parties records, create a single Collaboration Parties record and link to that rather than to the individual Parties records.
For example, a group of experts may work together to evaluate objects or describe a taxon. It is more efficient to group these individuals as a Collaboration Party Type and to link each Catalogue record to the one Collaboration Parties record, rather than linking each Catalogue record to multiple Parties records.
The main tab you would use to record details for a Collaboration Party Type is:
Tab |
Description |
---|---|
Collaboration |
Names of people and / or organisations who have worked together and their respective roles in the collaboration. |
The advantage of using a Collaboration Parties record is evident when a group of Parties regularly collaborate. If it is often necessary to link to each of the Parties records, create a single Collaboration Parties record and link to that rather than linking to the individual Parties records.
- Create a Parties record of type Person for each person that is to become part of the collaboration.
- Add a new record in the Parties module and select the Collaboration Party type.
- Attach the Person Parties records for each collaborator to the Collaborator: (Collaboration) field.
Select the next row (with asterisk) to attach another Parties record.
- If required, type a role in the Role: (Collaboration) field, indicating the role played by that person in the collaboration.
- Save the record.
The Union List of Artists Names (ULAN) database is a structured list of artist names and biographies produced by the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, USA. Its web address is:
http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/ulan/about.html
The ULAN database currently comprises more than 100,000 individual artists (creators, performance artists, decorative artists) and architects. The Getty Institute holds the copyright to the ULAN database and an institution must obtain a license before ULAN data can be used in EMu.
ULAN records can be imported into EMu by Axiell developers at the direction of an institution whenever an update of the database is released.
The main tabs used to record details for a ULAN Party Type are:
Tab |
Description |
---|---|
ULAN 1 |
Includes artists name, variant name, biography and source. This tab is set to read-only. |
ULAN 2 |
Relationships and descriptive notes. This tab is set to read-only. |
Roles |
Roles that the person / organisation plays and any areas of speciality. |
Biography |
Biographical details about a person, e.g. date of birth, period of activity and heritage. |
Other Party Types include:
- IH Person (for Botanic Gardens with the NYBG Index Herbariorum)
- IH Herbarium (for Botanic Gardens with the NYBG Index Herbariorum)
Note: Institutions can define other Party Types that meet their requirements.
Note: As every institution is able to customise
Tab |
Description |
---|---|
Person
|
Holds personal details, including:
|
Organisation |
Details about an organisation, including its structure and other names. |
Address |
Address of the person and / or organisation. |
Roles |
Lists roles that the person / organisation plays and areas of speciality. |
Associations |
Lists people, groups, organisation, etc. associated with the this Parties record. |
Biography |
Holds a person's biographical details, including:
|
Synonymy |
Links to other Parties records that are synonymous with this Parties record. |
Notes |
See Notes tab for details. |
Multimedia |
See Multimedia tab for details. |
Security |
See Security tab for details. |
Audit |
See Audit tab for details. |
Admin |
See Admin tab for details. |
To create a new Party:
- Add a new record in the Parties module.
- Select a Party Type from the Party Type drop list.
The tab display will change according to the Party Type selected.
- Complete the fields in the module with all known data.
If you are unsure of a value to add to a field, use the Lookup List Also known as a Pick List or Authority List, a Lookup List is a list of the values that have either been used or are suggested for use in a field. Rather than keying a value into the field, it is possible to pick a value from the Lookup List; the selected value will populate the field. (F12
) to view a list of available values. - Save the record.