Understanding Details Pages about Functions, Groups, Series and Agencies

Other information – Displays links to PROVguides and web pages that provide information related to this function. Click on the hyperlink to view the page.

Related Agencies tab

Agencies with prime responsibility for this Function – List the agencies that have had prime responsibility for this function.

· Date of Responsibility – Displays the date range that the agency was responsible for this function.

· Agency Title – Displays the title of the responsible agency.

· Agency Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the agency. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Agency Details page.

Other Agencies responsible for this Function – List agencies that have had secondary responsibility for this function.

· Date of Responsibility – Displays the date range that the agency was responsible for this function.

· Agency Title – Displays the title of the responsible agency.

· Agency Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the agency. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Agency Details page.

Related Groups tab

Groups related to this Function – Lists groups that are related to this function.

· Date of Responsibility – Date range that the group and this function were related

· Group Title - Displays the title of the related group.

· Group Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the related group. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Group Details page.

Group

About this Group tab

Date Range – Displays the date range that this group existed.

Description of this Group – Description of this group.

Other information – Displays links to PROVguides and web pages that provide information related to this group. Click on the hyperlink to view the page.

Related Agencies tab

Agencies within this Group – list all agencies that have belonged to this group.

· Date within Group – Displays the date range that the agency belonged to this group.

· Agency Title – Displays the title of the agency that belonged to this group.

· Agency Number - Displays the numeric identifier of the agency. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Agency Details page.

· Agency Hierarchy – Indicates the agency’s seniority within this group.

Related Functions tab

Functions related to this Group – Lists the functions that have been related to this group.

· Date within Group – Displays the date range that the function was related to this group.

· Function Title – Displays the title of the function that was related to this group.

· Function Number - Displays the numeric identifier of the function. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Function Details page.

Agency

About this Agency tab

Date Range – Displays the date range that this agency existed.

Description of this Agency – Description of this agency.

Other information – Displays links to PROVguides and web pages that provide information related to this agency. Click on the hyperlink to view the page.

Related Series tab

Record series created by this Agency – List the record series that have been created by this agency.

· Date Range – Displays the date range of the series.

· Series Title – Displays the title of the series created by this agency.

· Series Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the series. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Series Details page.

· Series Location – Displays the location of the Series. Units and Items ordered from this Series can be viewed at this location.

· Public Access – Displays the access of the records in this Series. Access can be ‘Open’, ‘Closed (section of the Public Records Act that it is closed under)’, ‘Restricted’ or ‘Part Open’. ‘Part Open’ indicates that it has open and closed records.

Related Functions tab

Functions for which this Agency has or had primary responsibility – List all the functions that this agency has or had primary responsibility for.

· Date of Responsibility – Displays the date range that this agency was responsible for the function.

· Function Title – Displays the title of the function that this agency was responsible for.

· Function Number - Displays the numeric identifier of the function. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Function Details page.

Functions for which this Agency has or had secondary responsibility – List all the functions that this agency has or had secondary responsibility for.

· Date of Responsibility – Displays the date range that this agency was responsible for the function.

· Function Title – Displays the title of the function that this agency was responsible for.

· Function Number - Displays the numeric identifier of the function. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Function Details page.

Other tab

Superior Agencies – Lists all agencies superior to this agency.

· Date of Relationship – Displays the date range that the agency was superior to this agency.

· Agency Title – Displays the title of the agency that was superior to this agency.

· Agency Number - Displays the numeric identifier of the superior agency. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Agency Details page.

Subordinate Agencies – Lists all agencies subordinate to this agency.

· Date of Relationship – Displays the date range that the agency was subordinate to this agency.

· Agency Title – Displays the title of the agency that was subordinate to this agency.

· Agency Number - Displays the numeric identifier of the subordinate agency. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Agency Details page.

Related Agencies – Lists all agencies related to this agency.

· Date of Relationship – Displays the date range that the agency was related to this agency.

· Agency Title – Displays the title of the agency that was related to this agency.

· Agency Number - Displays the numeric identifier of the related agency. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Agency Details page.

Groups containing this Agency – Lists groups that have contained this agency.

· Date of Relationship – Date range that the group contained this agency.

· Group Title - Displays the title of the group that this agency belonged to.

· Group Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the containing group. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Group Details page.

Series

About this Series tab

Date Range

· Series – Displays the date range that the series existed.

· Series in Custody – Displays the date range of the portion of the series that PROV holds in custody.

· Contents – Displays the date range covered by the contents that PROV holds in custody.

Public Access – Displays the access of the records in this Series. Access can be ‘Open’, ‘Closed (section of the Public Records Act that it is closed under)’, ‘Restricted’ or ‘Part Open’. ‘Part Open’ indicates that it has open and closed records.

Location – Displays the location of the Series. Units and Items ordered from this Series can be viewed at this location.

Format of Records – Displays the format of the records in this Series. Format can be ‘Physical’, ‘Digital’ or ‘Physical/Digital’.

Agency which created this Series – Displays the agency that created this series.

· Date Range – Displays the date range of the agency that created this series.

· Agency Title – Displays the title of the agency that created this series.

· Agency Number - Displays the numeric identifier of the creating agency. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Agency Details page.

Agency currently responsible for this Series – Displays the agency that is currently responsible for this series.

· Date Range – Displays the date range of the agency that is currently responsible for this series.

· Agency Title – Displays the title of the agency that is currently responsible for this series.

· Agency Number - Displays the numeric identifier of the responsible agency. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Agency Details page.

Description of this Series – Describes how the records in this series might be structured and how to find the contents in this series.

· How to use the records – Describes how the user should use the records for their research.

· Function/Content – Describes the types of content that is stored in this series.

· Recordkeeping System – Describes the different recordkeeping systems that were used for these records over time.

Other information – Displays links to PROVguides and web pages that provide information related to this series. Click on the hyperlink to view the page.

Related Series tab

Controlling Series – Lists the series controlling this series.

· Date Range – Displays the date range of the series controlling this series.

· Series Title – Displays the title of the series controlling this series.

· Series Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the controlling series. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Series Details page.

Controlled Series – Lists the series controlled by this series.

· Date Range – Displays the date range of the series controlled by this series.

· Series Title – Displays the title of the series controlled by this series.

· Series Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the controlled series. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Series Details page.

Previous Series – Lists the series that preceded this series.

· Date Range – Displays the date range of the series that preceded this series.

· Series Title – Displays the title of the series that preceded this series.

· Series Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the previous series. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Series Details page.

Subsequent Series – Lists the series that succeeded this series.

· Date Range – Displays the date range of the series that succeeded this series.

· Series Title – Displays the title of the series that succeeded this series.

· Series Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the subsequent series. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Series Details page.

Accessing the Records tab

Consignments – Lists the consignments belonging to this series.

· Consignment Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the consignment belonging to this series.

· Contents Date Range – Displays the date range of the contents in the consignment.

· Public Access – Displays the access of the consignment belonging to this series.

· No. of Units – Displays the number of units belonging to the consignment.

Controlling Series – Displays the series controlling this series.

· Date Range – Displays the date range of the series controlling this series.

· Series Title – Displays the title of the series controlling this series.

· Series Number – Displays the numeric identifier of the controlling series. Clicking on the hyperlinked value will display the Series Details page.

Other information – Displays links to PROVguides and web pages that provide information related to this series. Click on the hyperlink to view the page.

Items in this Series – This is a link to another web page displaying all the Units and Items that belong to this series and have a description. This link will not be displayed if there are a large number of items within the series. The records can be accessed via the individual consignments.

Search within this series – Clicking on this button displays the ‘Search within a Series’ page, with this series Number entered in the VPRS field.

Consignment

Consignment Detail pages differ slightly for physical and digital consignments. Physical consignments hold only physical records, including Units and physical Items. Digital consignments hold only digital records, including digital Items.

If a consignment belongs to a series with a large number of records, the consignment page will only display the units, not the items. To view the items, the user can navigate down through individual units.

Physical Consignment

Digital Consignment

Series title – Displays the title of the series that this consignment belongs to.

Series number – Displays the numeric identifier of the series that this consignment belongs to.

Consignment number – Displays the numeric identifier of the consignment.

Consignment description – Displays the description of the consignment.

Public Access – Displays the access of this consignment.

Format – Displays the format of the records in this consignment. Format can be ‘Physical’ or ‘Digital’.

A list of records in this Consignment – Lists the units and items in this consignment.

Order selected entries – Clicking on this button will place the selected records on order.

· Unit No. – Displays the unit number of the record belonging to this consignment. Note: This display column is only displayed if the consignment is ‘Physical’, as ‘Digital’ consignments do not have Units.

· Item – Displays the numeric identifier of the item belonging to this consignment.

· Description – Displays the description of the unit or item belonging to this consignment.

· Date Range – Displays the date range of the unit or item belonging to this consignment.

· Access – Displays the access of the unit or item belonging to this consignment. Record access affects your ability to view and order them.

· Location – Displays the location where the unit or item is kept. Units and physical Items ordered from this consignment can be viewed at this location. Note: This display column is only displayed if the consignment is ‘Physical’.

Unit

Series title – Displays the title of the series that this unit belongs to.

Unit number – Displays the numeric identifier of the unit.

Description – Displays the description of the unit.

Date Range – Displays the start and end date of the unit, if applicable.

Public Access – Displays the access of the unit. Record access affects your ability to view and order them.

Format – Displays the format of the unit, such as box, volume etc.

Location – Displays the location where the unit is kept. Ordered units can be viewed at this location.

This unit is part of – Clicking on the hyperlinked numbers will display the Details pages.

· Series number – Displays the numeric identifier of the series that this unit belongs to.

· Consignment number – Displays the numeric identifier of the consignment that this unit belongs to.

Order Unit – Clicking on this button will place the unit on order.

A list of items in this unit – List all the items that belong to this unit.

Order selected entries – Clicking on this button will put the selected records on order.

· Description – Displays the description of the item belonging to this unit.

· Date Range – Displays the date range of the item belonging to this unit.

Item (physical)

Series title – Displays the title of the series that this item belongs to.

Description – Displays the description of the item.

Date Range – Displays the start and end date of the item, if applicable.

Public Access – Displays the access of the item. Record access affects your ability to view and order them.

Format – Displays the format of the item, which is ‘Physical’.

Location – Displays the location where the item can be viewed.

This item is part of – Clicking on the hyperlinked numbers will display the Details pages.

· Series number – Displays the numeric identifier of the series that this item belongs to.

· Consignment number – Displays the numeric identifier of the consignment that this item belongs to.

· Unit number – Displays the numeric identifier of the unit that this item belongs to.

Order Item – Clicking on this button will place the item on order.

If the physical Item has been digitised, the following component will be displayed:

View digitised image – Displays a link to the digitised image

Item (digital)

Series title – Displays the title of the series that this item belongs to.

Item Title – Displays the description of the item.

Item Number – Displays the identifier of the digital item.

Date – Displays the start and end date of the item, if applicable.

Public Access – Displays the access of the item. Record access affects your ability to view and order them.

Format – Displays the format of the item, which is ‘Digital’.

This item is part of – Clicking on the hyperlinked numbers will display the Details pages.

· Series number – Displays the numeric identifier of the series that this item belongs to.

· Consignment number – Displays the numeric identifier of the consignment that this item belongs to.

Item contents tab:

Download selected entries – Clicking on this button will begin downloading all selected Sub-Items.

Display number of entries per page – Select the number of entries that you see per page by picking a number from the drop-down box

‘All’ check box – Ticking this check box will select all entries on the page.

Individual check box – Ticking the check box next to an entry selects it for downloading. These check boxes will only be enabled if the entry can be downloaded by the user.

· Title – Displays the title and identifier of the Sub-Item belonging to this digital Item. Clicking on the hyperlink will display the Details page for the Sub-Item.

· Date – Displays the date that the Sub-Item was created.

· Size – Displays the size of the Sub-Item.

Recordkeeping information tab:

Function – Displays the business functions and activities that are documented by this Item.

Subject Keywords – Displays important keywords relating to this Item.

Description – Displays a description of the Item.

Agents – Lists all agents that have been involved with this Item. For each agent, the following details are listed:

· Agency type – Displays the agency type of the agent

· Agency name – Displays the name of the agent.

· Agency corporate name – Displays the name of the agent’s agency.

Coverage – Describes the jurisdictional, spatial or temporal areas covered by the content of the Item.

· Jurisdiction – Displays the jurisdictions related to the content of the Item.

· Place – Displays the locations, regions or geographical areas related to the content of the Item.

· Period – Displays the time period related to the content of the Item.

Management history – Lists all events that have occurred in the management of this Item. For the each event, the following is displayed:

· Event date – Displays the date the event occurred.

· Event type – Displays the type of management event that occurred.

· Event description – Displays the details of the event.

This item is related to – If the Item is related to other digital items, the relationships will be displayed here. For each relationship, the following is displayed:

· Item Number – Displays the identifier of the related Item.

· Relationship – Displays the type of relationship between the two items.

Download the VEO – Clicking on this link will begin downloading the Item.

Sub-Item

Series title – Displays the title of the series that this Sub-Item belongs to.

Sub-Item Title – Displays the title of the Sub-Item.

Sub-Item Number – Displays the identifier of the Sub-Item.

Date – Displays the start and end date of the Sub-Item, if applicable.

Public Access – Displays the access of the Sub-Item. Record access affects your ability to view and order them.

Format – Displays the format of the Sub-Item, which is ‘Digital’.

This Sub-Item is part of – Clicking on the hyperlinked numbers will display the Details pages.

· Series number – Displays the numeric identifier of the series that this Sub-Item belongs to.

· Consignment number – Displays the numeric identifier of the consignment that this Sub-Item belongs to.

· Item title – Displays the title of the Item that this Sub-Item belongs to.

· Item number – Displays the identifier of the Item that this Sub-Item belongs to.

Sub-Item Contents tab:

Display number of entries per page – Select the number of entries that you see per page by picking a number from the drop-down box

· Title – Displays the title of the Document belonging to this Sub-Item.

· Date – Displays the date that the Document was created.

· Size – Displays the size of the Document.

· Download – Clicking on the icon will begin downloading the document.

Recordkeeping information tab:

Function – Displays the business functions and activities that are documented by this Sub-Item.

Subject Keywords – Displays important keywords relating to this Sub-Item.

Description – Displays a description of the Sub-Item.

Agents – Lists all agents that have been involved with this Sub-Item. For each agent, the following details are displayed:

· Agency type – Displays the agency type of the agent

· Agency name – Displays the name of the agent.

· Agency corporate name – Displays the name of the agent’s agency.

Coverage – Describes the jurisdictional, spatial or temporal areas covered by the content of the Sub-Item.

· Jurisdiction – Displays the jurisdictions related to the content of the Sub-Item.

· Place – Displays the locations, regions or geographical areas related to the content of the Sub-Item.

· Period – Displays the time period related to the content of the Sub-Item.

Management history – Lists all events that have occurred in the management of this Sub-Item. For the each event, the following is displayed:

· Event date – Displays the date the event occurred.

· Event type – Displays the type of management event that occurred.

· Event description – Displays the details of the event.

This item is related to – If the Sub-Item is related to other digital items, the relationships will be displayed here. For each relationship, the following is displayed:

· Item Number – Displays the identifier of the related Item.

· Relationship – Displays the type of relationship between the two items.

Download the VEO – Clicking on this link will begin downloading the Sub-Item.

Items in this Series

Series title – The title of the series.

Series number – The numeric identifier of the series.

Format – The format of the records in this series. Format can be ‘Physical’, ‘Digital’ or ‘Physical/Digital’.

Search within this series – Clicking on this button displays the ‘Search within a Series’ page, with this series number entered in the VPRS field.

Order selected entries – Order entries with a ticked check box.

Display number of entries per page – Select the number of entries that you see per page by picking a number from the drop-down box

‘All’ check box – Ticking this check box will select all entries on the page.

Individual check box – Ticking the check box next to an entry selects it for ordering. These check boxes will only be enabled if the entry can be ordered by the user. I.e. it must be a Unit or physical Item, and the user must have sufficient access to the record.

· Description – Displays the full description of the entry. Clicking the hyperlink will display the Details page for the entry.

· Date Range – Displays the start and end date of the entry, if applicable.

· Type – Displays the record type of the entry. Records can be Units or Items (physical or digital).

· Access – Displays the access of the entry. Record access affects your ability to view and order them.

· Location – Displays the location where the ordered units and physical items can be viewed. A value of ‘Online’ indicates that the record is a digital Item and can be viewed online.

How to use the Details Pages

Tabs and Twisties

Many of the Details pages have tabs or twisties to improve the display of information.

Tabs allow multiple layers of information to be presented on the same web page. To view a tab, click on the underlined title. The tab will be displayed.

Twisties allow sections of information to be expanded or collapsed. Twisties are indicated by an arrow next to a heading. To expand a collapsed twisty, click on the arrow or the heading. The information in the twisty will be displayed and the arrow will be pointing downwards.

In the page below, the ‘Description of this Agency’ twisty is expanded and the ‘Other Information’ twisty is not expanded. Notice the arrow next to the ‘Description of this Agency’ twisty is pointing downwards to indicate that the section is expanded.

If there is no data to display for a twisty or a table, the headings will still be displayed.

Ordering from Details pages

Unit and Items can be ordered from Series, Consignment, Unit and Item Details pages.

Ordering from a Series Details page (not applicable for a large series) – After navigating to a Series Details page, click on the ‘Accessing the Records’ tab. Click on the ‘Items in this series’ link. The Items in this Series page will be displayed, with a list of Units and/or Items with descriptions in the Series.

Tick the check box next to the Unit or Item entries to be ordered and click ‘Order selected entries’. If your order request was successful, the My Orders: Current page will be displayed with the ordered record/s displayed in the list.

Ordering from a Consignment Details page (not applicable for consignments in a large series) – Navigate to a Consignment Details page, which displays a list of all the Units and Items in the Consignment. Tick the check box next to the Unit or Item entries to be ordered and click ‘Order selected entries’. If your order request was successful, the My Orders: Current page will be displayed with the ordered record/s displayed in the list.

Ordering from a Unit Details page – After navigating to view a Unit Details page, click on the ‘Order Unit’ button to order the Unit. To order individual Items in the Unit, tick the check box next to the Item entry and click on the ‘Order selected items’ button. If your order request was successful, the My Orders: Current page will be displayed with the ordered record/s displayed in the list

Ordering from an Item Details page – After navigating to view a physical Item Details page, click on the ‘Order Item’ button. If your order request was successful, the My Orders: Current page will be displayed with the ordered record/s displayed in the list

Navigation

To navigate through a list, for example a list of items on the Consignment Details page, use the navigation buttons at the top of the list. These will only be displayed if the number of entries is greater than the selected number of entries displayed per page.

To move sequentially through each page of entries, click on the and buttons. Clicking on the and buttons will display the first and last page of entries respectively. To navigate directly to a specific page in the list of entries, enter the page number in the text box and press ‘Enter’.

All the display columns can be re-sorted by clicking on the display column headings.

Downloading and Viewing Records

Digital records and their documents can be downloaded from physical Item, digital Item and sub-Item Details pages. Documents are the actual content of a record.

Click here for the steps involved in downloading records and documents.

Bookmarking / Printing

What are bookmarks?

Web browsers can remember frequently used Web pages. Internet Explorer uses the term favourites and Netscape calls this bookmarking. Once you have created a bookmark, you can navigate straight to that web page by:

Internet Explorer: Selecting the bookmark from the list in the Favorites menu on your browser.

Netscape: Selecting the bookmark from the list in the Bookmark menu on your browser.

Bookmarking a Details page

To bookmark a Details page:

Internet Explorer: Navigate to the page, select the ‘Add to Favorites’ option from the Favorites menu on your browser. Edit the name of the bookmark if you wish, click on the ‘OK’ button.

Netscape: Navigate to the page, select the ‘Add Bookmark’ option from the Bookmark menu on your browser.

N.B. If you re-sort one of the tables on these pages – for example, the list of units and items in a consignment – any attempts to bookmark the page will be unsuccessful. Be sure to bookmark the page before re-sorting.

Printing Details pages

To print a Details page, select the ‘Print’ option from the ‘File’ menu on your browser. The default print dialogue for your browser will be displayed.

Click here for more information on printing web pages.

PROV’s Archival Control Model

Public Record Office Victoria’s Archival Control Model consists of hierarchically related components of information: Functions, Groups, Agencies, Series, Consignments, Units, Items and sub-Items. Physical Items and Units can be ordered for viewing in one of our Reading Rooms. Digital Items and sub-Items can be viewed online. The other components help you with your research by putting the records in context. For more information on PROV’s Archival Control Model, read the PROVguide 66 PROV's Archival Control Model.

Physical and Digital Records

PROV’s collection contains physical and digital records: Physical records are “hard copy” records, typically paper files, volumes, photographs etc. To view physical records researchers have to log in to the catalogue, order records and visit a PROV reading room. Digital records are any records that are stored electronically. Digital records can be viewed online at any time.

PROV has two types of digital records; digitised records and electronic records. Digitised records are digital records that are digital copies of physical records, such as digital copies of paper files, photographs etc. Electronic records are digital records that were originally created electronically and are stored electronically.

For more information about PROV’s digital records, including online indexes and databases, read PROVguide 23 PROV's Digitised Records and Online Indexes

Digital records are VEOs. A VEO (VERS Encapsulated Object) is a single electronic object that represents an Item or Sub-Item. It consists of four components:

· Documents (including possibly multiple representations of content in long-term preservation format)

· Recordkeeping Metadata

· An XML wrapper

· Digital signatures

For more information on VEOs, visit the VERS website.

Records Access

Records Access at PROV

Access restrictions are applied to certain classes of records, in accordance with the Public Records Act. Public users are able to view contextual information about all ‘open’ and ‘closed’ records in our collection. However, they will not be able to orders records that have been closed to public access. Records may be closed for various reasons, the most common being personal privacy and preservation.

Government users may view contextual information about all ‘open’ and ‘closed’ records, and they may order open records and closed records for which their agency is responsible.

The access classification of records is displayed in the ‘Access’ display column in lists of records, and in the ‘Public Access’ field on Series, Consignment, Unit, Item and Sub-Item Details pages.

Closed Records

S9 refers to Section 9 of the Public Records Act, and closes records that contain personal and private information about persons that may still be living. These records are generally closed for up to 99 years for children, and 75 years for adults.

S10 refers to section 10 of the Public Records Act, which says that records may be closed to public access at the discretion of a Minister, countersigned by the Minister responsible for Public Record Office Victoria.

If you are seeking access to records closed under Section 9 or Section 10 you will need to contact the Freedom of Information officer of the government department that is responsible for the particular records and inquire about making a Freedom of Information request.

In some circumstances researchers can seek special access through PROV to records closed under section 9. See PROVguide 14 Special Access for more information.

S11 refers to Section 11 of the Public Records Act, under which records are closed that are too fragile for public inspection. Records closed under section 11 of the Act may have been microfilmed or digitised and may be available through PROV Reading Rooms.

Restricted Records

Access to records transferred from the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly is restricted. Researchers can access these records subject to the prior approval of an authorised parliamentary official. You can contact the Clerk of the Legislative Council or the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly for information about requesting authorisation: http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/

Training

PROV provides training on how to use the online catalogue. Visit the PROV training web page to see what training is available.