I would agree with Linda about not having security at the department level, but opting for a checkbox (or something,) in the constituent record that links to a security level permission (if that indeed, is what she's proposing). Many of our (one person) "departments" need access to constituents, to link them to records, or areas of the database they are responsible for. We just need to be able to exclude certain constituent records, not all, from various eyes (actually, this problem hasn't come up for us yet, but it will, I'm sure). This is how I'd like to handle the situation, when it arises. If TMS was developed this way, and say a certain constituent record needed to be fully accessible, and yet anonymous for other reasons, I would create one record that would be visible, and create another "anonymous" record for that person, set it to not display without correct permissions, and link it to the main record through the hierarchy. Wonder if that would work? Allison .................................................................. .................................................................. the warhol: Allison A. Smith Collection Manager / Database Administrator 117 Sandusky Street Pittsburgh, PA 15212 T 412.237.8345 F 412.237.8340 E [log in to unmask] < mailto:[log in to unmask]> W www.warhol.org < http://www.warhol.org <http://www.warhol.org/> > W www.warholstore.com < http://www.warholstore.com <http://www.warholstore.com/> > The Andy Warhol Museum One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh .................................................................. .................................................................. They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself -- Andy Warhol .................................................................. .................................................................. -----Original Message----- From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Linda Pulliam Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 2:18 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Protecting the identity of 'anonymous' lenders/donors At the MFA in Boston we make a constituent record for each anonymous lender and append the curatorial department initials to the end of the name followed by a numeral (looks like this: Anonymous Lender AOA 6) only one person in the curatorial department and the Head Registrar know who this person is. In some cases, the same Anonymous Lenders lends to two different MFA departments so the person would have two constituent records (something I'm not crazy about). Obviously another down side of this procedure is that names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. cannot automatically be pulled in to loan forms, receipts, and so on (Crystal reports). However, we've been doing it this way for a few years now, and, klunky as it is, it works fine for us, probably because we have so few anonymous lenders. It would be nice to have some way to control who sees certain constituent records. Because all departments, not just curatorial, share constituent records (and we really do not want duplicate constituent records), security on the departmental level would not work for us. I'd opt for some sort of check box that was threaded through security. Regards, Linda Pulliam Head of Collections Management Musuem of Fine Arts, Boston -----Original Message----- From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Essam, Gillian Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 10:59 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Protecting the identity of 'anonymous' lenders/donors Dear TMS Users, Here at the National Gallery, London, we are reviewing the way in which we protect the identity and details of lenders/donors who request anonymity in the public domain. We would also like to provide for the possibility that some future lender may request anonymity in both public domain and the Gallery, with the exception of one or two staff members. We would be very grateful to know how you deal with this in your institution. Do you have a written policy on the subject? What methods do you use in TMS records and reports?. At present we create a normal Constituent record for the lender, entering the first name in First Name etc. But in Display Name we enter 'Private collection' and in Culture we enter the full uncensored lender name. Then we enter 'On loan from a private collection' in Credit Line in the linked Object record. Only selected groups of users are allowed to view Constituents records or access reports that show Culture field. Other users only see 'Private collection' in Display Name wherever the Constituent record is linked to the Object or Loan record. However, this practice creates some difficulties in daily use of TMS, and we are reviewing other options. Many thanks, Gillian Gillian Essam Collection Information Manager The National Gallery Trafalgar Square London WC2N 5DN Tel: 020 7747 2543 Fax: 0207747 2472 email: [log in to unmask] Americans in Paris 1860 - 1900 22 February - 21 May 2006 Book Now http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/americans_paris/default.htm Open until 9pm every Wednesday with live music & bar Sign up for the latest news, offers and exclusive competitions from the National Gallery by clicking on this link http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/what/news/subscribe.htm