Table of Contents
Associations
Associations represent links between items in the catalogue. An association may represent books within the same series, supercedence, or a range of other reasons why the items may be associated together.
MU Users
The Attachments System is not available on the Pergamon Mu version of the software. The rest of this article can be ignored.
A number of associations can be made between Items within Pergamon. An association is made by selecting the Association type on the Associations page, and then selecting the [+] command button. Similarly, to remove an association, select the Item in the Associations list and then select the [-] command button.
Within the Ptolomy release of Pergamon, there are six types of association currently supported:
Items sharing the same core record
The initial state of this list is generated automatically simply from the fact that several unique Items may share the same underlying core record. In most cases therefore, it is not necessary to manually add Items to this list.
It is however possible, to create Items within this list manually using the [+] command button. Doing so will allow the user to specify a new HID, and create a basic and unconfigured new Item sharing the same underlying core record.
Previous and Follow-On Items
Previous and Follow-On Items allow the end-user to specify a logical flow between Items. In most cases, this flow will directly relate to the normal progression of Items within an established series however there are also other reasons why a logical progression may be made, including the creation of reading lists.
An association need only be made in a single direction - the reciprocal association is made automatically. If a follow-on link is made between 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and 'The Two Towers' for example (the first two books of 'The Lord of The Rings'), examining the record for 'The Two Towers' will reveal a 'Previous' link to the 'Fellowship of the Ring' already in place.
Contains and Contained Within Items
This associations list allows Items to be given a heirarchical structure. This system can be used for example, to group a number of books together that are contained within the same 'boxed' set, or a number of DVDs that have been shipped within the same outer case.
In the same way as the Previous / Follow-On association type, only one side of the association is required. Placing one Item within another automatically places a reciprocal reference in the other Item.
See-Also Items (other reasons)
The See-Also Items association type is a catch-all list that provides a method of associating Items together for reasons other than those defined elsewhere.
