WHAT IT'S USED FOR:
Procedural Status is used to record the 'legal' situation of an object within your institution e.g. Accessioned or Deaccessioned.
The Status field for object can be created and maintained under the jurisdiction of the Procedural Control tool, to provide a step by step control of the procedures an object can undergo.
The Status field is the first prompt you will encounter in all the Activity File Windows. It occurs in the Object file in three places: the Identification Window, the Deaccession & Disposal Window; and in the Customised Windows. The Status Field is the anchor for procedural control and the entry of data into this field is controlled by the procedural control authority file.
Procedural Status terms might include:
o Considered
oAccessioned
oDeaccessioned
oInward Loan
Procedural Status terms usually refer to overriding, long-term situations that do not change frequently. For example, an item with the Procedural Status ACCESSIONED can be put on display, sent out on temporary loan, loaned indefinitely, etc., but will continue to be an accessioned item in your collection regardless of where it is located and why. Only when an object is actually sold, donated, exchanged, disposed of etc., will its Procedural Status change to DEACCESSIONED.
Your institution may also wish to create a number of 'pre-accessioned' terms such as Request Submitted, Pending Approval and Accession Approved.
Alternatively or additionally an object that is being considered for acquisition could be recorded via the Acquisition Proposal Management Activity file.
The Procedural Status field should NOT be used for similar steps related to the Deaccessioning process, as this information is specifically catered for in the Deaccession Status field.
This field should also NOT be used for terms such as Outward Long Term Loan, Permanent Storage, Exhibition Loan, etc., as this information does not change the overriding legal status of the object in relation to your collection and is specifically catered for in the Location Reason field. Location Reason defines why an object is located in a particular place.
WHERE TO FIND IT:
The Procedural Status field appears in two standard windows in Vernon CMS: the standard Identification Window and the standard Deaccession & Disposal Window. It also appears in all Activity File Windows, Customised Windows, the Library window, and the Archive Series and Archive File/Item windows.
When you make a change to the Status in any of these windows, the system will automatically reflect the change in the other windows in which the Status appears. For example, when recording the deaccession details of an object, you can change its Procedural Status directly in the Deaccession & Disposal Window, and the change you make will appear in the Identification Window as well.
HOW TO USE IT:
If this is a new record, assign the next system Id for the record.
NB. The Deaccessioned Status is not a starting status and will not be available as a status for a new record.
You can assign a status by entering its code (Id) or a word from its name. To see a list of the statuses available, access the Authority Search Window by pressing [Alt + Down Arrow] or clicking on the Options Button. However, you can only access Status Authority Files themselves via the the Database menu, Other Files. Either of these paths will take you to the Authority Files Window, in which you can enter the filename of the Status Authority. From here you can create a new status.
For a new record, the system will constrain the user to only entering statuses which are specified as being 'starting status' in their procedural control authority, and then, only when any associated conditions for that status have been met.
When updating the status of an existing record, the system will constrain you to using only the terms specified as 'next statuses'. The record will only be saved with the updated status if the conditions (specified in the Procedural Control definition for the status) have been satisfied.
If this is the 'end of the chain' i.e. no next statuses have been defined for the current status; you will not be able to advance the status - as you are already at the end of the defined life cycle.
Procedural Control checks that all the rules that apply have been complied with. Error messages to the user are defined on the rule table and will alert the user if the correct procedure is not carried out.
The Procedural Control tool is maintainable by the System Supervisor, through the Procedural Control Status Authorities.
For more information on 'Groups' please refer to Procedural Status Groups.
STATUS HISTORY:
The status history of an activity or object is available in the Diary Summary Subwindow. The Status History of the object or activity is a protected field (one which can not be altered). Status History is a record of the steps an activity or object may have undergone during its life cycle, the dates these were actioned and the person responsible.
RETRIEVAL:
Full instructions for retrieving records from the system are covered in the section on Retrieving Data.
Note, however, that this is an indexed field. You can search for objects based on their Procedural Status by selecting Procedural Status from among the available search fields in the Query Window, and proceeding as you would when searching any authority controlled field.
REPORTING:
Full instructions for creating reports to view on screen or send to a printer are covered in the section on Reporting. It may, however, be useful to review the following comments about this particular field.
Display
To display this field in either Down the Page or Across the Page reports, select Procedural Status from the list of available display fields.
It is suggested that you become familiar with the way authority controlled fields function during the reporting process.
Sorting
You can sort the objects in your report by Procedural Status. Simply select the field from the list of available sort fields.
