Donors and agreements
When material is given, deposited, sold or transferred to the institution, the terms need to be written down and kept. In the Workspace the donor is an authority record, like any other agent, and the agreement is a record in its own right, a rico:Record, joined to the donor and to the accessions and descriptions it documents.
The screens are under Manage: Donors (/accessions/donors) and Agreements (/agreements).
Donors
A donor is the person, family or body an accession came from. Making an accession from a new donor makes their authority record; Donors lists everyone who has given material, with their accessions and agreements. Their contact points hold how to reach them.
Kinds of agreement
| Kind | When it is used |
|---|---|
| Deed of gift | Material given outright |
| Deed of donation | A formal donation, as South African practice has it |
| Deed of deposit | Material held, the depositor keeping ownership |
| Loan agreement | For a time, for exhibition or research |
| Purchase agreement | Material bought |
| Bequest | Received under a will |
| Transfer agreement | From another institution or government body |
| Custody agreement | Held while a decision is made |
| Licence, reproduction and access agreements | Rights to copy, publish or open the material |
| Memorandum of understanding, service level and collaboration agreements | With partner institutions |
These are a vocabulary, so an institution can add its own.
Making an agreement
- Choose New agreement, on its own or from an accession.
- Give its kind, title, number (or take the next from the agreement sequence), date and the donor.
- Record its terms: what it covers, its extent, the rights it grants or keeps, its restrictions with how long they last, its payment terms, special conditions and internal notes.
- Add the contacts: the donor's, the institution's and any legal representative's.
- Save. It starts as a draft.
An agreement moves through draft, pending review, pending signature and active, and later perhaps expired, terminated or superseded, with the reason.
Documents
Attach the signed copy and anything else that belongs with it, such as correspondence or an inventory, each with its document type. The files are kept in the object store with the rest.
Restrictions
A restriction an agreement sets, such as no access to personnel files for 25 years, is recorded with its dates. Put the same restriction on the descriptions it governs as an embargo or a right, so the public catalogue honours it; see Embargoes.
Reminders
Add a reminder to an agreement for anything that must not be forgotten: a restriction to review before it lapses, more material promised, a thank-you to send. Reminders (/agreements/reminders) lists what is active or snoozed. Each can be completed with a note, snoozed until a later date, cancelled, or made active again. Reminders that fall due are sent each morning.