How to Create an Encumbrance
Encumbrances restrict certain aspects of specimen/lot records from the public view, usually to protect personal identity, proprietary data, or the provenance of a vulnerable population/habitat. Many encumbrances are temporary and may be reversed when specified conditions change (publication of research, expiration or retraction of encumbering legislation, eradication of critical habitat where specimen/lots were collected, etc.).
NAVIGATION: Tools Directory → Records → Encumbrance:Manage
Create an Encumbrance
- From the Encumbrance screen, click on the “Create an Encumbrance” hyperlink at the top of the page or navigate here.
- Enter the person or organization requesting an Encumbrance into the Encumbering Agent field (required).
- Select the current date or the day the Encumbrance was created as the Made Date (required).
- Select an Expiration Date that will void the encumbrance. If the termination of an encumbrance is premised on an unpredictable date or an uncertain event (e.g., discretion of curator, death of Encumberer or Collector, expiration or retraction of encumbering legislation, eradication of critical habitat where specimen/lot(s) collected), the event description should be entered in Remarks.
NOTE: Encumbrances MUST have an Expiration Date that is within five years of the Made Date. While some encumbrances may be intended to be permanent, a review every five years is reasonable. Notification via email to the person(s) with manage collection authority for the collection(s) to which the encumbrance applies will be notified prior to expiration and will then be able to extend the expiration. For this reason, it is not recommended to use Encumbrances to mask truely sensitive information where the redaction could lapse. - Name the Encumbrance (required). This name should be as general as possible with the aim of avoiding separate encumbrances when the encumbrancer and/or the encumbering action are the same.
- Select an Encumbrance Action from the drop-down menu to initiate the restriction of specimen/lot data from the public view in Arctos (required). The “Restrict Usage” option masks the entire record from public view. The other menu options restrict partial data from public view.
Encumrance Actions currently available in Arctos - Enter any Remarks regarding the Encumbrance amd/or specimen/lots to be encumbered.
- Click “Create New Encumbrance” to save.
Attach Record(s) to an Encumbrance
In order to link records to a newly created or existing Encumbrance, perform a standard Catalog Record Search for the record(s).
TIP: If multiple records are to be Encumbered, enter catalog number ranges into the search field so that these records can be encumbered at the same time rather than individually or specific search parameters to isolate the desired records.
*After confirming the retrived records are correct, use the “Tools” menu at the top of the displayed search results to select “Encumbrances” from the Manage sub-section.
- A summary of the “Cataloged Items Being Encumbered” will appear at bottom of screen, showing the retrieved records to be attached to an Encumbrance.
- Above the records are search fields used to find the appropriate Encumbrance record to attach to the selected records. Enter search parameters to locate the Encumbrance and click the “Find Encumbrance” button.
- On the next screen, Encumbrance record search results will appear above the records to be encumbered. Choose the correct Encumbrance record and click the “Add All Items to this Encumbrance” hypertext.
- A message noting that “All items listed below have been encumbered” will appear as well as an orange button used to “Remove the Encumbrance.” The Encumbrance is now saved.
Review Encumbrance
Use the Encumbrance Search Results page to access several management tools to modify or review an Encumbrance:
- Add items to an Encumbrance
- Remove listed items from an Encumbrance
- Delete an Encumbrance
- Edit/Modify an existing Encumbrance
- See all records associated with an encumbrance
- Delete listed records from an existing Encumbrance
Edit this Documentation
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