Medium and materials
The Medium and materials field records what an object is made of.
Field details
Public field
medium_description is the field ID
Text field with1,000 character limit
Detail and Public tabs in the object cataloguing page
(but not for natural science records)
Cataloguing tips
Different materials require different collection care. Some types of materials need to be stored separately for their longevity, or for health and safety purposes. This field helps with such planning.
It is essential to use a standard and consistent format. We recommend either of these thesauri:
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British Museum Materials Thesaurus
Uses British English terms and spelling. Suitable for Australian and New Zealand collections. -
Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) - The Getty Research Institute
Uses American English terms and spelling.
Objects can be made of multiple materials, so each new material type will be on a new line. Identify if an object is organic or inorganic and record the material hierarchy. For example:
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organic, processed material, paper
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organic, processed material, textile, silk
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inorganic, processed material, synthetic, plastic, bakelite
Search tips
You can search on this field with:
medium_description
For example, enter medium_description: copper into the search field to find all objects that are made of copper.
