Step 5: Enter System Parameters
PastPerfect has settings that affect the entire program. If the program is networked, these settings are the same on all workstations. You may want to change these settings to make the program work best for your organization. To change these system parameters, click the Setup button on the Main Menu, then click System Parameters to see the screen shown below. Changes made on this screen are saved when you exit the screen.
Setup System Wide Parameters screen
Country Settings - Select either USA or UK. For users of PastPerfect in the UK, we provide a different format for telephone numbers and addresses. Also for the UK, the Deed of Gift is called Transfer of Title and currency is displayed in pounds. Spelling of words such as "greyscale" and "colour" is modified.
Date Style - PastPerfect supports a variety of date formats, including ANSI (2009.04.28), American (04/28/2009), British (28/04/2009), German (28.04.2009), Italian (28-04-2009), Japan (2009/04/28), or USA (04-28-2009). Since dates are stored as Julian dates, changing the date style will reformat the display and printing of all new and previously entered dates.
Object ID Sort by - Set your Object ID and Accession Number fields to be sorted either numerically or alphabetically. This will adjust the sorting when you choose the Sort by fields of Object ID or Accession Number on your records. If you use letters at the beginning or in the middle of your Object IDs and Accession Numbers, choose alphabetic sorting. If sorting numerically and your organization uses multi-part numbers, you must enter the character that separates the parts in the Object ID Separator field.
Accession & Sites Screens - Most Accession and Site records include only a small number of catalog records. However, in some cases, such as archaeological collections, there may be thousands of catalog records associated with a single accession or site. In this case you can speed the opening of the Accession screen and Sites screen by limiting the number of catalog records that display. The default setting of 999 is advisable.
Catalog Record Date Display - Placing a check mark here forces entries in the Date field on catalog records to the Year/Month/Day format. Otherwise the field may hold any format of date, such as "1920 ca". We recommend choosing your date format, either Year/Month/Day or text, before beginning data entry.
Catalog Research - Query - Placing a check mark in this box saves a query in the Query History list even if no results were found. You may see when the query was run and who ran it. This does not make the query available to be retrieved.
Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) Website - By default the URL for the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus website is entered. The AAT is a structured vocabulary containing approximately 131,000 terms and other information about art concepts. Terms in AAT may be used to describe art, architecture, decorative arts, material culture, and archival materials. The coverage of the AAT ranges from antiquity to the present. On the Add New Catalog Record screen in the Objects, Photos, Archives and Library catalogs is an AAT Online button that will take you to the website for assistance in naming collection items. To be able to access this website, your computer must be connected to the Internet.
Union List of Artist Names (ULAN) Website - By default the URL for the Getty Union List of Artist Names is entered. The ULAN is a structured vocabulary that contains approximately 290,000 names and other information about artists. On the bottom of each PastPerfect Artist/Author/Creator/Photographer authority file detail screen is a Search ULAN Online button that will take you to the website for obtaining information about artists. To be able to access this website, your computer must be connected to the Internet.
Library of Congress Online Catalog Website - By default the URL for the Library of Congress Online Catalog is entered. If your computer is connected to the Internet, a Library of Congress Online Catalog button in the Actions section of the Sidebar on the Library catalog screen will take you to this website to search their database of publications.
Unlock Upgrade Options - This button can be used to install any of the optional features: MultiMedia Upgrade, Network Upgrade, Barcode Printing, Inventory Manager, Virtual Exhibit, and PastPerfect Online.