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

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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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