People & Organizations

Here you record the people and organizations connected with your holdings and exhibitions, such as artists, curators, museums, workshops or lenders. An entry is not a user account. If you record a colleague, that does not give them access to CONTXT.

Search for an existing entry firstCopy section link

1. Open People & Organizations and search for the name. Also try other spellings, former names or just the surname.
2. Use Filters to narrow the results by type or role.
3. Open a possible match. Compare the life dates, other names and the connected objects or exhibitions.

The same name alone is not enough. Often only the year of birth or the field of activity makes clear who is meant.

Create a person or organizationCopy section link

1. In the register, select Add.
2. Under Type, select Person for an individual or Organization for a museum, a company or a group. In other places, an organization is called a group.
3. Enter the name; for a person, the given name and family name. Check how the name is displayed.
4. Enter the life dates, or for an organization its founding and dissolution, but only if a source supports them. Leave unknown dates empty.
5. Add other known names or a short description. Then select Create.

A workshop is not automatically the person it is named after. What counts is who your source means.

Maintain names and detailsCopy section link

Open the record and select Edit record. When you are finished, select Save changes. Cancel discards everything that has not been saved yet.

Enter other documented spellings as additional name forms. Before you create a new organization, check whether it is the same organization that has only changed its name. That way, the existing connections continue to lead to the right organization.

An external identifier points to an entry in another directory, such as an authority file. Only add the identifier once the name, life dates and field of activity there match your person.

Connect a person to an objectCopy section link

You record who created an object on the object. Edit the object and search for the person in the Maker field. Choose the appropriate attribution and save.

"Made by this person or group" and "Attributed to" are not the same. Choose what your source says. If an attribution is wrong, correct it on the object, not in the person's entry.

Record roles in an exhibitionCopy section link

Each person needs only one entry, even if they created an object and curated an exhibition. The role belongs to the connection with the object or the exhibition in each case.

In the exhibition, search for the existing entry among the participants or other contributors. Enter the role your source names. A name appearing in the exhibition text does not mean the person was involved. A quoted author is not automatically a curator.

Handle possible duplicatesCopy section link

A duplicate is a second entry for the same person or organization. Compare the two records with their identifiers and connections. If Merge… is offered, check which record will remain. If it is unclear whether it is really the same person, clarify the sources with the people responsible first. Two people with the same name keep separate records.

The Assistant can prepare the comparison. Give it the links to both records:

Compare the names, life dates, identifiers and connected objects of these two entries. Tell me what matches and what contradicts. Do not merge the entries yet.

Check the evidence yourself before you decide.