Creating materials with a Research scope allows primary source documentation to accompany distinct research records.
For example, a research-scoped Newspaper Clipping material may be created. Now, should there exist a source, such as Staff Research, where information is collected about awards, business activity, and other news items, the details may be captured in the research record and a clipping of the newspaper may be associated directly with this record.
Creating Research Materials
To create a research-scoped material:
- Go to the Materials section of the database.
- Click Insert.
- Enter the following settings:
- Status: Set to Active.
- Key: Provide a computer friendly ID for the material, such as "newspaper_clipping."
- Name: Provide a human friendly name for the material, such as "Newspaper Clipping."
- Scope: Set to Research.
- Access: Set to Admin Only.
- Click Save.
Linking Research Materials to Research Records
To connect a research material to an individual research source:
- Go to the record to which the material should be attached.
- Click the Materials tab.
- Click New Material.
- In the pop-up, select:
- Record: Click the select list and scroll down to the Research Sources category. All sources for the record will be listed in reverse chronological order. Select the appropriate source to associate with the material.
- Material: Select the appropriate research-scoped material.
- Memo: If desired, add a descriptive memo.
- Source: If uploading the material from a local or network location, select PDF / Document. If connecting to a scanner, select Scanner.
- Upload Document: Click Choose File to select the material to be attached to the research source.
- Click Upload.
- Click Save.
The material may be viewed along the other materials associated the record, as well as when viewing the associated research source.
Research Material Metadata
Material metadata collects information related directly to a material. Collecting material metadata is often useful when processing incoming documents, as it can provide additional descriptive detail about the contents of the material.
In addition, material metadata forms can be used to update research values on the source for which it is associated and record details during document processing. Material metadata form details can be found in the Metadata tab when viewing a material that has a completed material metadata form.
For details on how to create material-scoped fields, view our article on Material Metadata.