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Research Materials and Material Metadata

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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:

  1. Go to the Materials section of the database.
  2. Click Insert.
  3. 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.
  4. Click Save.

Newspaper Research Source

Linking Research Materials to Research Records

To connect a research material to an individual research source:

  1. Go to the record to which the material should be attached.
  2. Click the Materials tab.
  3. Click New Material.
  4. In the pop-up, select:
    • Record: Select the appropriate source to associate with the material.
    • Material: Select the appropriate research-scoped material.
    • Memo: If desired, add a descriptive memo.
    • Select one of the available options:
      • PDF / Document: The uploaded document will be converted into a PDF.
      • Scanner: Select a scanner preset from the list (this opens Slate Desktop).
      • File (no conversion): The uploaded file will remain as-is and will not be converted to a PDF.
    • Upload Document: Click Choose File to select the material to be attached to the research source.
  5. Click Upload.
  6. Click Save.

Uploading

Hamilton Uploaded Article

The material can be viewed along with the other materials associated with the record, as well as when viewing the associated research source.

Research Material on 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 creating material-scoped fields, refer to the Material Metadata Knowledge Base article.