Vernon Cataloguing

Documentation is a database of supportive documentation (books, serials, catalogues, ephemera, film, video, and sound recordings). It includes fields such as Publisher, Author, Publication Date, ISBN/ISSN Number, Media, Format, etc. The Documentation file also allows you to record information about the location of documents, the number of copies, the quality of the copies, Supplier, Price, Packaging, Quantity and Binding. The Documentation file is used to record references to objects, people, sites, events etc ′ such as citations of that entity (e.g. catalogues and articles describing an object in your collection) or references which are relevant to it in some way (e.g. similar items and historical contexts). It can also be used as a basic library cataloguing system. All files have a common window for recording Documentation links.

Photo/Audio-visual

Photo/Audio-visual is a database of photographs and digital images, motion video and sound, i.e. any type of audio-visual material you hold or want to document. These records can be linked to any of the major files - objects, persons, sites, events, documents, etc - to record the photographs (etc) relevant to or showing these items. If the links are to digital images, sound or video then they can be displayed in that context. It can also be used for photographs and digital files which may be unrelated to any particular record in your database, such as a slide library collection. The database allows recording of details such as caption, description, format, publication restrictions, dimensions, number of copies, location (digital and physical), related images, production details, copyright ownership, condition, usage, subject matter, collection name, source details, etc.

Event is a database of significant happenings. It is comprised of fields such as the Type of Event (e.g. War, National Celebration), its Places, Time/Dates, and the people, places, concepts, events and objects etc associated with this event. And because it′s a hierarchical file you can record events as sub-sets of other events. For example you might record the Second World War as having sub-events such as The Normandy Landing. Events can be linked to objects as subjects or associations for that object, and to persons as part of their biographical detail.

Site supports the documentation and management of historic and geographic sites, including natural history localities. The Site file includes fields such as: Place, Latitude/Longitude, Altitude, Depth, Map/Grid References, Geopolitical Notes, Access Details, Facilities, Management, History, Habitat, Conditions, Usage, Conservation Status and Geological details (structures, stratigraphy, extracts, mineralogy, petrology, palaeontology, palaeoenvironment and geomorphology).

Other authority files: There are more than 200 other authority files which are also independent databases but are much less complex. These files include Place, Classification, Materials, Techniques, Object Status, etc, and they function mainly in support of the Object, Person, Documentation, Event and Site files, and of each other.

Not that you have to be conscious of all these files while you′re working. Because of the elegant relational nature of Vernon, the separate files work in seamless support of each other and reciprocally maintain the relationships between them.