One of the benefits of putting your collections in PastPerfect is having great research abilities. The People/Classification/Subjects/Search Terms tab on each of your collection records is designed to organize the terms you can use to find records when searching. These fields are linked to the search functions in the Research area of the program.
People - This field is used to identify people who are associated with your items. When you enter names into this field, PastPerfect will automatically add the name to the People Authority File. A record for that person will also be added to the People Biographies area of the program. The convention for entering names is “last name, first name middle name or initial.” For example: "Hilton, Dorothy Ann."
Subjects - The Subjects field is most useful for recording subject matter or general themes in works of art, photographs, and items. This field may be useful for listing the incidental details captured in a work of art. For example a landscape painting may include several cows in the background next to a barn. The description of the painting may or may not mention these details. Use the subject field to record this information, for example:
- Landscape paintings
- Outbuildings
- Cows
The Subject Authority File is pre-loaded with terms from the Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphical Materials: Subject Terms. This field is especially useful in researching when a researcher is interested in viewing all items in your collection that contain a particular subject, such as "Cows."
Classification – This field is designed to contain classifications organized in a hierarchical system. It is recommended that you arrange your terms from the general to the specific as in:
- Agriculture
- Livestock
- Cattle
This system works well for quick and easy retrieval, functioning like a finding aid. You may wish to create your classification system before beginning data entry.
Search Terms - This field is used to record any terms or words that will be helpful in researching the catalog database. These terms are specific to your organization and may include family names, organizations, or entities that are associated with items in your collection. For example, you may have photographs, objects and archival materials from the Rocky Pine Ranch. Including "Rocky Pine Ranch" as a search term allows all items connected with Ranch to be related within PastPerfect.
Entries in each field should be separated by a carriage return and may all be controlled by Authority Files. Easy searching comes from thinking ahead when you enter your data and keeping your terms consistent!