Accession Management

A Guide for Archivists and Administrators

What is it?

The AHG Accession Manage plugin provides first-class accession management for AtoM/Heratio. On top of the standard AtoM accession record it adds an intake queue with a status workflow, configurable intake checklists, a chain-of-custody timeline, file attachments, a formal appraisal workflow with weighted scoring, heritage asset valuation history (aligned with GRAP 103 / IPSAS 45), physical container and item tracking with barcode support, and PREMIS-aligned rights management with inheritance to child information objects. Access to all screens requires you to be logged in; most editing actions additionally require the editor credential or administrator rights.

Key features

Accession browse with sort by date modified, accession number, title, or acquisition date, plus keyword search and relevance ranking.
Dashboard summarising accession statistics, intake queue stats, and a valuation report.
Intake queue with the status workflow: draft → submitted → under_review → accepted / rejected / returned. Filter by status, priority, assignee, or search term; assign records to staff.
Intake checklists (with reusable templates), timeline audit trail, and attachments (deed of gift, photos, correspondence).
Appraisal records with type, monetary value, significance, recommendation, and weighted criteria scoring from templates.
Valuation history per accession plus a portfolio-wide valuation report.
Containers (box, folder, envelope, crate, tube, flat file, digital media, other) with condition status, barcode, and contained items that can be linked to information objects.
Rights with PREMIS-style basis, restriction type, grant acts, and optional inheritance to child records.

How to use it

Single-record screens use the numeric accession ID; browse/admin screens use fixed paths.

Browse accessions: /accession/browse
View / edit / delete a record: /accession/:slug, /accession/:slug/edit, /accession/:slug/delete
Add an accession: /accession/add
Dashboard: /admin/accessions/dashboard
Intake queue: /admin/accessions/queue
Intake detail: /admin/accessions/:id/intake
Workflow actions (POST): /admin/accessions/:id/submit, /review, /accept, /reject, /return
Checklist / timeline / attachments: /admin/accessions/:id/checklist, /timeline, /attachments
Appraisal: /admin/accessions/:id/appraisal (save at /appraisal/save)
Valuation: /admin/accessions/:id/valuation (add at /valuation/add)
Containers / rights: /admin/accessions/:id/containers, /admin/accessions/:id/rights

From a record you can also create a linked information object and view the related donor's primary contact.

Administration / settings

Configuration: /admin/accessions/config — saves intake settings and lists checklist and appraisal templates (editor only).
Numbering: /admin/accessions/numbering — per-repository numbering sequences with a default mask (e.g. {YEAR}-{SEQ:5}).
Appraisal templates: /admin/accessions/appraisal-templates — create/delete weighted-criteria templates.
Valuation report: /admin/accessions/valuation-report — portfolio totals plus the 50 most recent valuations.
CLI tasks: accession:intake and accession:report.

Tips & FAQ

CSV export of accessions runs as a background job; track progress and download from the Jobs page.
An accession won't submit? Check its current status and that the intake checklist is complete.
Barcode lookup is available for containers via the barcode API endpoint.
Rights inheritance copies a rights record to child information objects only when you trigger the inherit action.

Contents