Database Description |
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The elements making up a RAAM entry are described in detail below. |
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RAAM No.The RAAM Number field is automatically generated by the system when a record is loaded to RAAM. If you are searching RAAM, it provides a direct link to the full entry if you already know the number of the record. It is also a means of identifying the record to be changed when submitting an amendment to an entry through an offline process. Entries added to RAAM before December 2000 have both an old and a new RAAM number. The old number is displayed in parentheses after the new number in the full record display and can also be searched through the Advanced Search option. |
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CreatorThe Creator field is a repeatable field used to record the name of the individual, family or organisation responsible for the creation of the archival or manuscript record(s) or collection(s) described in the entry. A Creator is required if available. In rare cases (e.g. anonymous archival or manuscript records or aggregations such as "Spanish manuscripts collection") the field may be left empty, or the term Anonymous or Unknown may be used. The term Creator indicates the provenance of the records and includes those who receive or accumulate records as well as those who directly create them. There are some variations in practice for data currently in RAAM, but generally, individuals have been entered under the proper name of that individual; and organisations have been entered under the commonly used form of the organisations name. Entities within the organisation such as branches or divisions have been entered hierarchically. Where there is more than one individual or organisation that could be considered to be the Creator, a second occurrence of the Creator field may be added. Entries derived from records in MARC format will have only one Creator (the main entry in the MARC record) with second or subsesquent names mapped to the Names field. Where the Creator is an individual, additional information including dates of birth or death may be included where known as this assists in differentiating individuals with similar names.
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TitleThe Title field is a mandatory field used to summarise the collection as concisely as possible, using such terms as:
In some cases it is appropriate to give the name by which the collection is known, and for an artificial collection it is appropriate to compile a descriptive phrase such as:
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Date RangeThe Date Range field is used to record the earliest and latest dates of the material described in the entry. Significant gaps in a date range may be shown.
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FormatThe Format field is used to describe the physical format of the material where the material held is not in its original format. For example, when the material described in the entry is a microfilm, microfiche, transcript, photocopy, etc. of an original record or collection of records. |
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SizeThe Size field contains a description of the quantity or extent of the material expressed in one of the following forms:
In some entries, the size of the collection is followed by a plus symbol (+). This indicates that the collection is a continuing one to which further additions are expected. |
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OccupationOccupation is a repeatable field included in RAAM to provide researchers with a basic level of thematic searching. The Occupations Thesaurus is a thesaurus of occupations based on Library of Congress Subject Headings with local variations. It was developed by the National Library for use in cataloguing its Manuscript collections. It has been provided to assist both searchers and contributors in identifying appropriate occupational terms for use in the RAAM database and will be updated periodically. The Occupation field should only have been filled in when the occupation is reflected in the material being described. Where there is more than one Occupation needing to be recorded, second and subsequent occurrences of the Occupation field will be added. |
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KeywordsThe keywords field is a new field that will be used to enter and/or store words or phrases that describe and/or classify the collection or item for retrieval purposes. When records are loaded to RAAM from another source such as Kinetica any terms in subject-type fields that do not map to the Occupations Thesaurus will be placed in the keywords field. Online contributors may also enter terms in this field that they have used to describe the collection or item in their own systems. |
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SummaryThe Summary field contains a description (sometimes including the time period) of the material described in the entry, and may expand on information provided elsewhere in the record such as in the Title field.
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Biographical NoteThe Biographical Note field is provided to enable the recording of optional biographical / administrative history details about the Creator if available. |
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NameThe Name field is a repeatable field used where persons or organisations other than those named in the Creator field feature prominently in the records being described, for example co-creators, major correspondents or other members of a family. The name is entered in the same way as outlined for the Creator field. The RAAM search interface provides searching access based on the Creator field only, or alternatively it is possible to search for Creators and Names in a combined index. Where there is more than one individual or organisation needing to be recorded, second and subsequent occurrences of the Name field will be added. |
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AccessThe Access field is used to record the conditions which apply for obtaining access to the material, and may include a description of any limitations imposed on individuals wishing to see the described materials.
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Finding AidsThe Finding Aids field is used to note or describe the availability of more detailed finding aids for particular collections where these exist in paper, microform or other forms that are not directly accessible online. This field may also be used to describe online finding aids, in conjunction with the Finding Aid URL field. |
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Finding Aid URLThe Finding Aid URL field is a repeatable field provided for recording the Uniform Resource Locator or URL of online finding aids. Each URL is recorded in a separate occurrence of the field so that it can be made an active link to the online finding aid in the full record display.
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LocationThe Location field records the name of the repository holding the material described in the RAAM entry. For entries provided directly to RAAM by repositories, the form of name used in the Location field is that used in the Directory of Archives in Australia if available, and otherwise in the form provided by the repository. For entries derived from Kinetica, the name of the repository is generally in the form used in the Interlibrary Loan Resource Sharing Directory. The repository's National Union Catalogue (NUC) symbol is displayed after the name in parentheses. All repositories in RAAM have a NUC symbol, which also serves as the userid for online contributors. While most entries in RAAM will have only one Location, the Location field has been made repeatable to support cases where a collection has been copied to enable wider access. In general, records with multiple Locations will have been sourced from Kinetica. |
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Call NumberThe Call Number field is used to record the number that identifies or locates the material within a particular repository.
As with Location, while most entries in RAAM will have only one Call Number, the Call Number field has been made repeatable to support cases where a collection has been copied to enable wider access. In general, records with multiple Call Numbers will have been sourced from Kinetica. |
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ImmutableThe Immutable field is used to store the Kinetica Immutable Number for entries sourced from the National Bibliographic Database. When the record is updated on Kinetica the Immutable is used to ensure the update is applied to the appropriate entry in RAAM when the next Kinetica file load is processed. |
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Source No.The Source No. field is used to identify the source record on the contributor's system. Like the RAAM No. it is a means of identifying the record to be changed when submitting an amendment to an entry through an offline process. |
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Date createdThe Date Created field records the date a RAAM entry was created. This date is used in the Date Created search on the Advanced Search form. |
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Last updateThe Last Update field records the date a RAAM entry was last updated. This date is used in the Date Last Updated search on the Advanced Search form. |
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Comments on any aspect of the Register are welcome and may be sent by email to: raam@nla.gov.au |
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Last updated
Monday 26-Mar-2007
http://www.nla.gov.au/raam/raamdb.html