My Institution- Adding, editing and assigning Collections in ZIMS

 

Creating Collections and making animal assignments

 

Your animal Collections are your reason for having the animal. If you are a zoo or aquarium, most of your animals will be in your Main Collection Type. You may also have some animals in the Education collection or the Feedstock Collection Types. If you are a rehabilitation center most of your animals will be in the Rescue/Rehabilitation Collection Type. Animal assignment to Collections can be changed as circumstances change.

 

The default Collection Scope is Global, except for Incomplete Accessions whose default scope is Local, meaning that others will have the Global view of the animal. This supports the Species360 goal of data sharing. You can mark two Collection types (Research and Feedstock) as a Local Collection Scope. Animals in these Collections will not be visible outside your institution. They will also not be counted in Species Holdings and their data will not contribute to the Global Resources. However, you can externally share a Local record with another institution.

 

You can create multiple collections for all Collection Types except for the Main Collection Type. For example, you could create two Education Collections; one for Outreach Programs and one for On Grounds Programs.

 

To find the Collection grid go to Start > Institution > My Institution > Details > Collections.

 

 

   

1.The Collection Name must be unique

2.Select the desired Collection Type from the drop down list

3.Select the Collection Scope (only Feedstock and Research Type have the Local Scope option)

4.If the Active box is unchecked you will get a warning when you try to assign an animal to it but you will be allowed to do so

 

NOTE: Edits to Collection Type and Scope should not be made once animals have been assigned to a Collection. Primary Animal Collection cannot have the Type or Scope edited. Name can be edited but should remain something clear that indicates this is the primary animal collection for example ‘Main Collection’ or ‘Zoo’ or ‘Aquarium’.

 

Once you have created your collections you will need to assign animals to the collection. Collection assignment is a mandatory field during the Accessioning process. In the animal record the Collections are found under Details tab > Taxonomy / Sex Type / Collection. This is where you would go to move an animal into a different Collection. Select Actions > Collection Change Event and record the information. Both Collections will display in the grid.

 

If an animal changes Collections, it is Best Practices to record a Collection Change event rather than editing the current Collection. This approach will maintain a history of what Collections the animal has been in that would be lost with a simple edit.

Revised 5 March 2025