By Record Type

The Metadata Management System (MMS) supports four types of records that contain descriptive content and provide organization for digitized material, each of which have their own properties and descriptive practices

Table of contents

  1. Record Types
    1. Collections
    2. Containers
    3. Items
    4. Captures
  2. Hierarchy Examples
    1. Standalone Item
    2. Collection with Only Items
    3. Collection with Only Containers That Have Items
    4. Collection with Both Containers & Items
  3. See Also

Record Types

Collections

  • Collections are the highest record in the hierarchy
  • Collections can contain containers and/or items
  • Collections generally mimic the organization of the physical collection
  • Collection records are typically imported from a finding aid or catalog record
  • Collection records may also be created in MMS where no source finding aid or catalog record exists, although this is less common

Containers

  • Containers are intermediary records
  • Containers can contain other containers and/or items
  • Containers must be contained by a collection
  • A collection can have zero or an unlimited number of containers

Items

  • Items can be standalone or contained in collections
  • Items in collections can be contained just by a collection and/or any of the collection’s containers
  • Collections and containers can contain an unlimited number of items

Captures

  • Captures are attached to item records
  • Each capture can have a single corresponding image, video, or audio asset
  • An item can have zero or an unlimited number of captures
  • Capture records do not have MODS elements associated with other record types
  • Besides system-generated fields, captures have two editable fields:
    • Name: typically the same as the image ID generated during digitization process, but can be manually edited if deemed necessary
    • Relationship: a drop-down menu of values that can provide detail about what the capture is or how it relates to the item

Hierarchy Examples

Standalone Item 

| -- Item

Collection with Only Items 

| -- Collection
   | -- Item
   | -- Item
   | -- Item

Collection with Only Containers That Have Items 

| -- Collection
   | -- Container
      | -- Item
      | -- Item
   | -- Container
      | -- Item
      | -- Item

Collection with Both Containers & Items 

| -- Collection
   | -- Container
      | -- Item
      | -- Item
   | -- Container
      | -- Item
      | -- Item
   | -- Item
   | -- Item

See Also