Glossary
This glossary provides an overview of some of the terms you may come across
when searching for records in our catalogue.
Level:
The way our records appear in the catalogue reflects the structures that
surrounded their creation. This is called "hierarchical description".
The most common levels in use in our catalogue are:
Collection:
All the records created or accumulated by a person or corporate body e.g. the
Collection of the United Africa Company (UAC).
Section:
A group of records within a collection which relate to each other e.g. UAC
Board: Corporate Records. This is usually only used for bigger collections.
Series: Documents arranged in accordance with a filing system or maintained as a
unit because they result from the same accumulation or filing process, or the
same activity; have a particular format; or because of some other relationship
arising out of their creation, receipt or use
Item:
An individual record or file of records
Piece:
Used where an item has component parts that have been catalogued e.g. a file
of correspondence will be described at item level whereas an individual letter
within that file would be described at piece level