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Info-Muse Network Documentation Guide

Les guides électroniques de la SMQ

Current Condition (Physical Description)

Field to be used with an authority listField used for ethnology and history collectionsField used for fine and decorative arts collectionsField used for science and technology collectionsField used for archaeology collections (object data and site data)Field used for natural science collections

Definition:

  • This field contains an assessment of the overall condition of the object.

Observations:

  1. Use this field with the following authority list for better results when searching the database:

    poor

    The object is seriously damaged, with one or more major alterations;

    good

    The object is slightly damaged, with one or more minor alterations;

    excellent

    The object is not damaged and there are no visible alterations.

  2. This field is used in conjunction with the Current Condition Date field.

Entry rules:

  1. Enter a keyword describing the current condition of the object.
  2. This field may contain multiple entries separated by a semicolon followed by a space. To keep an audit trail of the condition of the object, each entry in the Current Condition field should correspond to an entry in the Current Condition Date field.
    Example

    A cupboard was assessed on May 23, 1981 and was found to be in poor condition. It was restored and assessed again on March 26, 1992, when it was declared to be in good condition.

      Object Namecupboard
    Current Condition good; poor
     Current Condition Date 1992-03-26; 1981-05-23

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