Vernon CMS Help

When checked, these options control the usability of a term in various ways.

HOW TO USE THEM:

"Usable", "Not Usable" and "Retrievable but Not Usable" are mutually exclusive (i.e. you can only select one). Usable is the default setting and is automatically checked for every term you create. To select any other of these terms, simply click in the circle. To de-select it, click Usable again.  

Do Not Delete can be selected in addition to any of these three options. To select Do Not Delete, click in the box so it shows an X. To turn off Do Not Delete, click in the box again to remove the X, then save the term.

There is also a tool for bulk update of term usage control.

WHERE TO FIND THEM:

The Authority Term Management window, i.e. open the desired file, then select Authority Management in the Navigator pane.

WHAT THEY DO:

USABLE: Terms set as usable can be entered in any appropriate field and retrieved in all the usual ways. There are no restrictions on usable terms.

NOT USABLE:  Once you check this option (and save the term), the term will no longer be available for use in data entry, and you will not be able to retrieve this term into a field in data entry windows.

Should you attempt to enter the term in an appropriate field, a pop up will tell you that it is not a valid authority term, and when the Authority Search window appears allowing you to select or search for a term, the term will not be among those available.

However, you can still access and search the Non Usable term in its own datafile, so you can maintain it.

For terms that have become completely obsolete, it is usually better to perform a term replacement, and to then delete them from the system. See help about authority term replacement for more information.

An important exception is Location authority terms where a term is no longer active, but cannot be entirely deleted because of historical data in the system. For example if your institution has decided not to use a particular storage facility any longer, the term for that facility will no longer be needed. The term must, however, be retained so that Location History can accurately show where an object was at a certain time. It is also useful to be able to search for all objects that were in that place at a particular time, while still preventing users from applying the term in any current situations.

The only way to access a Not Usable term (e.g. to change the setting and make it usable again, or to delete it) is to click the Other Authority Files button in Vernon CMS Navigator, access the appropriate file, and retrieve the term by entering into the Search bar and pressing the Enter key.

RETRIEVABLE BUT NOT USABLE: When you have checked this option (and saved the term) the term will no longer be available for use in any field, but you will still be able to retrieve records in the Authority Search window based on their association with the term.  The term will be displayed when you search for it, but it will be greyed out and unable to be selected for use in a field.

Note that you will still be able to use terms that are 'Retrievable but Not Useable' for searches in the Query window

This control is useful in hierarchical authorities where high level terms are necessary as retrieval points and descriptors, but should not actually be assigned to any record.

For example, terms in the Location authority might be structured as follows:

The terms Museum, Galleries, Storage and Main Storage must be created and maintained in the system to create a structure and a hierarchical path to the narrower terms they encompass. It would, however, not be desirable for users to assign these high level terms to any object. For example it is not useful to say that an object is in Storage, rather than specifying which room, rack, tray, drawer, etc. it is in.

In this situation, high level terms can be set as Retrievable but not usable so that when a user attempts to assign them to a record, they will be forced to select one of their narrower terms.

DO NOT DELETE: Once you have clicked Do Not Delete and saved the term, any attempt to delete that term will produce a message saying that the term has been flagged as Do Not Delete, and its deletion will be prevented until Do Not Delete is turned off. Although it is a simple matter to 'de-select' Do Not Delete' (i.e. to click in the box to remove the X) and then delete the term, it is not advisable to do so without first checking with your system supervisor.

Terms that have been pre-programmed by Vernon Systems will display a note to that effect in the Notes field of the Authority Maintenance window, and will have been set as Do Not Delete terms. These terms are essential to some function of the system, and it is essential that they not be deleted under any circumstances.

The Do Not Delete check box prevents deletion of any term to which it is applied and is easily turned on and off by the user. The system can also be set to prevent deletion of any term which is actually in use somewhere in the system. This setting can be found on the Authority tab of the Customise Configuration window (Tools menu > System Maintenance > Customised Configuration).