Entering Items in the Items Form

1. To record information about items in a collection, open the collection record in the Collections form of the database and click "Enter Item Metadata" on the gray toolbar.
   
   
2. When the Items form opens, double-check that the correct collection title appears at the top of the form. The collection acronym is also displayed for reference.
   
   
3. To enter items, first choose and expand the series and subseries that the items you wish to enter belong to, by clicking the plus sign (+) beside the series and subseries. For collections without series or subseries, you will choose "default". (If the series and subseries have not been already entered on the Collections form, they will not appear on the Items form. If so, you can enter the series and subseries on the Items form (or the Collections form) before proceeding.)
   
   
4. Enter the item numbers in the column labeled "Item Number". Each item number should consist of the collection acronym followed by a 4-digit number. The item numbers need not be sequential but often will be. If you enter an item number that does not include the collection acronym or does not end with a 4-digit number, you will receive a warning message advising you to correct the item number. For each item, enter a box number, folder number, and description of the item, if this information is available.
   
   
5. Each item consists of one or more pages. Each page of an item may have an image, a transcript, both, or neither. To record information about the pages of an item, click the plus sign (+) beside the item number.
   
   
6. If no pages of an item have images or transcripts, no page information need be recorded for that item. However, if any pages of an item have images or transcripts, record page information for all pages of the item.
7. A "page" of an item is considered to be any part of the item that is represented or could be represented by a distinct image and/or transcript. Examples:
   • a front-and-back postcard: 2 pages
   • a photograph: 1 page
   • a 4-page letter with images and transcripts of each page: 4 pages
   • a 4-page letter with images and transcripts of 2 out of 4 pages: 4 pages
   • an oral history transcript available as a single PDF file: 1 page (even though the PDF document may be many pages long)
8. When you click in the "Page Number" box, a sequential number will automatically appear, counting upward from 1. If the page has a digital image and/or transcript available on the website, indicate this by choosing the file type of the image or transcript from the drop-down list in the appropriate box. If an image or transcript is not available, leave the box blank.
   
   
9. When you enter a file type in the image or transcript box and then export the collection record to create an XML finding aid, a link will be created pointing to the image and/or transcript for that page. In order for this link to work, you must properly name the image and/or transcript and place them in the correct folder on the website, using the naming conventions for image and transcript files.

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