At the National Gallery, London we have three roles in the Object-related Role Authority; Artist, Previous Attribution and Lender's Attribution, all without prepositional text configured in the authority. We enter attribution qualifiers in Prefix and Suffix fields and rely on data entry rules to ensure consistency - not difficult as data entry for our compact collection is closely monitored. If more than one artist created the work we usually link them all to the work and specify the order in which they should be displayed in Display Order.
(Like Anna I find the automatic deletion of Prefix and Suffix fields logical but perilous when updating the Role, e.g. from Artist to Previous Attribution)
We only publish the role of Artist, and in order to force an appropriate sort order on lists of objects by artist name in the Artist A-Z browse list or the Artist Page on our website, we create an 'Attribution level' field on the fly in a SQL view of the data for publication. It classifies each relevant ConXref record as level 1 (by or attributed to the artist with or without workshop, studio and assistants), level 2 (associated with the artist e.g. style of, workshop of) or level 3 (after the artist). The sort order is then specified as by artist name, attribution level, Prefix, Suffix, title of work. This sorts objects in order of relative authenticity so that the viewer sees autograph objects first and copies after the artist last.
Gillian Essam
Collection Information Manager
The National Gallery
Trafalgar Square
London
WC2N 5DN
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 5243
Fax: +44 (0)20 7747 2472
-----Original Message-----
From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Robert Farrell
Sent: 19 November 2009 19:06
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Constituents in TMS - Roles
Hi Susan,
I think you have a few options that will be helpful to you (responding to everyone as I think many will find this useful) :
1) Prefix field is Thesaurus Lookup enabled (Thesaurus Lookup is available starting with TMS 9.35). So you can predefine the list of prefixes and even group them by role and make this available to your user for selection. When in the prefix field they would just type "Ctrl + Insert" and the list will appear for the users to select the appropriate prefix from. (This is configured in DBConfiguration Program under Manager =>Tables/Columns =>Other =>Constituent Xrefs.)
2) You could put the contents of the User Manual into the help file so that they can look up the list by hitting "Shift + F1" when they are in the Prefix field. This will allow them to look up your standards in the context of inputting the Prefix.
3) As Chad mentioned, in 2010 we do have a new Attribution label feature. This allows you total control over your attribution and is pretty helpful when dealing with an attribution that involves many constituents. This field is text searchable so you could search for objects on "Workshop of Raphael" as opposed to just "Raphael".
Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Garton, Susan
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 12:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Constituents in TMS - Roles
I agree it's frustrating that searches on artists call up everything that was formerly attributed to them, etc., but object packages and Crystal reports can help narrow the results lists. (It can be tedious, though.)
NPG uses prefixes extensively, for both sitters ("Alleged", "Possibly", etc.), artists and "secondary artists", a role we use to cover constituents involved in the creation of a work who didn't physically created it (i.e. "Copy after", "Former Attribution", "Printer", "Foundry"--if there is already a specific sculptor named--etc.) We've configured each role to have the default prefix be the most commonly used one--"Sitter" for sitter, "Artist" for artist and "Copy after" for secondary artist.
We have always wanted a dropdown for prefixes, as it is very difficult to keep this text field clean. I added to our user's manual a list of the roles and preferred associated prefixes, but people don't always remember to consult it. So I use our Access tables on a regular basis to filter on various roles and clean up the associated prefixes that people have entered in various objects. We use MANY different prefixes (and relatively few roles,) and prefixes are used in every object, so it's tedious. I wonder if the nature of the prefix field will change at all in TMS 2010?
Susan Garton
Data Administrator
Center for Electronic Research and Outreach Services
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Phone: (202) 633-8554 / Fax: (202) 633-8254
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chad Petrovay
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 3:11 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Constituents in TMS - Roles
David,
The Walters had a separate constituent for "School of Rembrandt" or "Workshop of Raphael". It drove the curators crazy, because they wanted "Raphael and Workshop" instead of "Raphael" and then "Workshop of Raphael", but they are two different constituents (an individual and an institution).
Thankfully, we can have our cake and eat it, too, in TMS 2010, with the new compound constituent labels.
Chad Petrovay | Collections Database Administrator
MIM-Musical Instrument Museum | 8550 S. Priest Drive | Tempe, AZ 85284
480.481.2460 main | 480.353.2746 direct | 480.481.2459 fax | www.themim.org
-----Original Message-----
From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Aylsworth, David
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 1:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Constituents in TMS - Roles
We have had some cases with our collection where curators would get very
upset if searches for "Rembrandt" included the things "formerly
attributed to" or "in the school of" Rembrandt. As messy as it
admittedly is, we have generally tried to use the prefix and suffix
fields, but have occasionally created new separate constituent records
for "attributed to Rembrandt" so that when you search for Rembrandt, you
only get Rembrandt.
(actually, since this is Texas, instead of Rembrandt, it's Remington....
but I thought it would sound foofier to say that we have a problem
sorting out all of our Rembrandts...)
David
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
telephone: 713-639-7824
fax: 713-639-7780
-----Original Message-----
From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Smith, Jeffrey
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 1:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Constituents in TMS - Roles
Prefix and Suffix have been the perfect place for us to add these
qualifiers.
Imagine how cool it must be for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame to enter
"The artist formerly known as" and then "Prince." :)
-----Original Message-----
From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Anna Kisluk \\eoj
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 2:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Constituents in TMS - Roles
I am posting this on behalf of Dana Kreuger, Registrar, of the Emerson
Gallery
at Hamilton College. Please reply directly to her at:
[log in to unmask]
In circumstances where a work (painting, etc) is "after" or "attributed
to" an
artist, how have others dealt with this within TMS? Do they create
multiple
constituent records? Or do they add them to "role" when choosing
constituents in the object data entry screen? We have been placing
labels
such as these in "Prefix" and "Suffix." These fields are found when
editing a
constituent from the Object record. They are under "Constituent
Assistant",
choose Edit, then "Cross-reference information". Is this a way that
others
have attached such items as "attributed to" or "after"? If not, where
have
others been placing these?
Also, if not, what do they place in those "Prefix" and "Suffix" spaces?
Thanks.
Anna
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