Top Containers

To associate a pre-existing top container with an archival object or accession:

• Navigate to the Instances form of the accession or archival object record (public link) that the top container will be associated with.

• Click the "Add Container Instance" (public link) button.

• Select an appropriate top container "Type", such as "Box", "Oversize Box", etc.

• If there are already top containers created for this collection or accession, type the container number into the search bar to locate that top container. 

• Select that top container.

• Click "Save Archival Object" or "Save Accession". 

To create a new top container for an archival object or accession:

• Navigate to the Instances form of the accession or archival object record (public link) that the Top Container will be associated with.

• Click the "Add Container Instance" (public link) button.

• Select an appropriate top container "Type", such as "Box", "Oversize Box", etc.

• Click the "Link to top container" drop-down arrow and select "Create" (public link).

• Select the appropriate "Container Type," such as "Box", "Folder", "Volume", etc.

• Add a (typically) numerical "Indicator," which will represent the number of that box, folder, volume, etc. in the collection. 

• Click "Create and Link to Top Container". 

It is also important to note the following:

• The Container Type will often, but not always, be the same as the Instance Type. For example, an instance type of "Box" will have a container type of "Box". However, an instance type of "Oversize Folder" will have a container type of "Folder". 

• It is important that the Container Type be selected from among the available options, as the container type influences the functionality of Aeon requesting in the Bentley's online finding aids.  

Be aware that deleting a top container is permanent and will delete all other references to the top container in other archival objects or accession records.

To manually delete a top container, simply:

• Navigate to that top container's particular record. 

• Click the Delete Button (public link). 

• Confirm your decision when prompted.

To associate a pre-existing top container with multiple archival object using the Rapid Date Entry (RDE) feature:

• Ensure that the top container is created using the workflow described in the "Creating a New Top Container" in the "Manual" section.

• Navigate to the appropriate resource record.

• Select the object that will serve as the "parent" object for all the "children" objects that are about to be created. This "parent" object could either be the object for the entire resource (i.e., to create series-level archival objects quickly) or particular objects within a specific series, file group, etc.

• Click the "Rapid Data Entry" button (public link).

• Apply an RDE Template or, alternatively, manually select the fields to use for RDE.

• Make sure that both the "Instance Type" and "Top Container" field names are "sticky" (i.e., highlighted in blue) (public link). 

• Select the appropriate "Instance Type" from the drop-down menu.

• Type the top container number into the "Top Container" field.

• Select the appropriate top container.

• Click either the "Add Row" button or use the drop-down arrow next to "Add Row" to add additional rows with the same container information.

• Repeat as necessary, making sure to change the "Instance Type" or "Top Container" when moving on to the next box.

To create several top containers for an accession:

• Create the accession record using the instructions provided in the accessions portion of this website (public link).

• Next, click the "Add Containers" button (public link).

• Select the appropriate "Instance Type" and "Container Type" from the drop-down menu.

• Provide a number for "Container Start" and "Container End".

• Click "Add Containers". 

It is not efficient to manually delete top containers if deleting a large number of containers. In such cases, the archivist should use the "Manage Top Containers" feature to delete numerous top containers. To do this:

• Click on the gear drop-down at the top of the page and select "Manage Top Containers" (public link).

• Use the appropriate search feature to search for the specific top container(s) associated with a particular resource, accession, barcode, etc.

• Once the top container(s) have been located, select the top container(s) to delete.

• Click on "Bulk operations", followed by "Delete top containers" (public link).

• Confirm the deletion when prompted.

• Shared top containers: On rare occasions, archival material will be stored in containers that are shared among different collections (e.g., DVD boxes or sound recording boxes).  These "Top Container" records will likely already exist and be associated with existing resources in ArchivesSpace. In such cases, use the above "associating" workflows to link the appropriate object to the existing top container record rather than create a duplicate top container record.

• Child containers: Occasionally, it will be necessary to add a child container to a container instance. Child containers can be used to specify the location of materials with more granularity than a box number (e.g., to indicate the materials are in "Box 3 Folder 2" or "Box 2 Reel 10"). Child containers should be used sparingly and generally only under the direction of the Assistant Director for Collections Management.