Hi, Sari,
We underwent a conversion from Argus to TMS
last year. Argus has a Lexicon (TMS $B!G (Bs Thesaurus) that is a hierarchical
arrangement of terms which assist in searching the database. Not knowing
your level of expertise, I $B!G (Bll briefly describe by showing an example. If I
wanted to search all European paintings, I could query by the term $B!H (BEuropean $B!I (B
because the hierarchy is set to show $B!H (BItalian $B!I (B, $B!H (BGerman $B!I (B, $B!H (BSwiss $B!I (B, $B!H (BFrench $B!I (B,
etc. as under the term $B!H (BEuropean $B!I (B. However, because I have defined this
structure as such, I can also search for only $B!H (BFrench $B!I (B, if indeed, that is all I
want. Another example is object name $B!H (BFurniture $B!I (B. Under that term I
can put $B!H (Bchair $B!I (B, $B!H (Btable $B!I (B, $B!H (Blowboy $B!I (B, $B!H (Bhighboy $B!I (B, $B!H (Bbureau $B!I (B, etc. And under
those terms I can further define $B!H (Bchair $B!I (B as $B!H (Barmchair $B!I (B, $B!H (Bsidechair $B!I (B, or $B!H (Bhigh
chair $B!I (B. Having terms in a Lexicon demands data validation, so you cut down
on the number of typos or variations. (Of course, if you want variations,
you just have to define it as a $B!H (Bsee also $B!I (B term.) You get the
drift.
Anyway, when GS migrated our data, the
programmer put our defined Argus Lexicon terms into the TMS Thesaurus.
It $B!G (Bs very handy for searching. As for adding this to a search in query
assistant or advanced query, you just go into the dbconfig $B"* (BManage $B"* (BQuery
Groups. In the Available Hierarchies, you seek out
Objects $B"* (BAttributes $B"* (BTerms on the left-hand side of the screen. You just
click and drag Term (from the right-hand side) into the Query Assistant for
Objects. This would hold true for Constituents, Loans, and Exhibitions as
well.
While having terms defined in a thesaurus
prevents runaway typos (though not terms—organizing the thesaurus is a task unto
itself!!), there is a downside: reports. Crafting a Crystal Report
using thesaurus terms is annoying. It can be done, but I don $B!G (Bt wish it on
anyone, but if I did, it would only be on those who have taken CR training at
Gallery Systems.
Attributes allow for user-defined terms not
covered in TMS fields. I don $B!G (Bt know if I would recommend using Attributes
because of the reporting difficulties. However, because our data migrated
in this way, I am dealing with it. For searching purposes, it $B!G (Bs
great. So, I would recommend using Attributes for that, but try to stay
away from having them pulled into reports.
Christine
Christine Droll,
Collections Database Administrator
The Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street Kansas
City, MO 64111-1873
tel: 816.751.1333 |
fax: 816.561.0499
From: The
Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cohen, Sari
Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 4:15
PM
To:
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Subject:
Attributes
We
are currently not using the attributes field in the object module but we would
like to start using it for terms pertaining to
subject.
How
do other institutions use this field and how can searches be done by attribute
type or value? I don't see a way to add this search to query assistant or
advanced query?
Thanks for your help.
Sari Cohen
Sari N. Cohen
Collections Manager
The Jewish Museum
1109 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10128
Tel.: 212-423-3352
Fax: 212-423-3232
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