The BMA core cataloguing fields for objects are as follows:
All items below not specified as a registrar managed field are the responsibility of the curator submitting or overseeing the acquisition of a new object into the Permanent Collection.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Object Number | temporary number created by registrar at import to database, permanent number created by registrar after completion of acquisition |
Required fields for new acquisitions are:
- Artist biography for internal records
- Acquisition justification
These fields are required to record accession details:
Acquisition justification | justification text must be provided for all new proposed acquisitions |
| Artist | search for existing constituent record, if not in TMS-C, add BEFORE submitting new object templates |
| Date | enter ISO start date, ISO end date, and display date taking care to follow house style for display date |
| Medium | capitalize first letter |
| Dimensions | display summary is provided, when possible, via import template, it must be transcribed into dimension elements, registrar to confirm or measure objects upon incoming receipt |
| Object Type | picklist, do not use any "archival" types for artworks in Permanent Collection |
| Classification | designates collection area of Permanent Collection, can have multiple classifications |
| Nationality, Place Made | either the artist's nationality, or place made is required in the object record, in addition to an artist's record |
| Work on Paper? | true or false |
| Edition | required for editioned works only |
| Signature | location and transcription of artist signature |
| Donor, funder, source | all persons related to acquisition of artwork; gifts of art require donors, gifts of funds for purchases require funders, source describes collector or institution (if other than donor) with last custody of artwork prior to BMA ownership |
| Provenance | link previous owners as Provenance related constituents, even where redundant with above constituents, include dates of ownership when possible |
| Value | if no appraisal or market value is available, an estimate must by provided by a curator |
Core biographical fields for Artists
All fields are the responsibility of curator submitting or overseeing the acquisition of works by new artists to the Permanent Collection.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Constituent Type | individual, institution, collaborators |
| First Name | |
| Last Name | |
| Display Name | auto populated by First and Last Name, ensure this is updated after any changes to those fields |
| Sort Name | auto populated by First and Last Name, ensure this is updated after any changes to those fields |
| Begin ISO Date | birth year |
| End ISO Date | death year |
| Display Bio | Birthplace, Birth year–place of death, year of death |
| Biography | general biographical information and summary of career, currently no format standards, for internal justifications and reference only |
| Nationality | generally assigned by birthplace, multiple nationalities can be listed for artists who permanently settle in other nations |
| Demographic category | internal statistical field |
| Gender | internal statistical field |
| Texas artist? | true or false, affiliation with Texas |
| UT faculty, etc? | true or false, affiliation with University of Texas at Austin |
| Collection artist? | true or false, helps to filter artists related to collection only and excluded artists related to loans and exhibitions |
Required Acquisition Fields (Registrar)
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Credit line | |
| Object Status | |
| Acquisition type | |
| Committee Approval Date | |
| Date Received | |
| Director Approval Date | |
| Accession Date |