Help:Introduction

The Canon database contains, and will contain even more in the future, a large amount of information. The Canon database includes information on people, equipment, manufacturers, companies, etc. Additionally it contains sources and information on collections.

To be able to find back what you are looking for or to select a part of the information that is relevant to you, we have structured the information based on four "organisers". These identifiers ensure that you can limit the information you want to see to an acceptable amount. The identifiers are explained below.

All the information is stored in "items". There are different types of items. Some are only used to structure information (like the organisers), other items contain "generic information" (for example about the concept of a PC spotlight, or a STRAND Patt.23 profile as a generic type) other are "unique occurences" (for example a specific STRAND Patt.23 profile in the collection of Backstage Heritage Collection). Persons, buildings, companies, ... are per definition unique occurences.

Additionally, each item of information contains a set of "statements", containing the information of that item in a structured way. These statements are always a combination of a "property" and the information itself. The information can be just text information or refer to other items or documents. You can read the whole set of properties here, but the are also explained in context in the "type of information" section.

Field

The "field" is the first organiser that allows you to select information. It defines to what area of the theatre technical history the information is related to. The fields are large area's like "Lighting and projection" or "Costume, hair and make-up". Additionally they include also more general area's like "Theatre, art and event history" or History of technology that are not related to the theatre or event sector, but support understanding of the context.

You can find back a list of the fields here.

Type of information

The "type of information" is the second organiser, it allows you to select what type of information you are looking for. This can be persons, buildings, equipment, etc. Additionally to these specific types of information, you can also look for sources or collections.

You can consult the list of types of information here.

Time frame

A third organiser is the "Time frame", that allows you to limit your information to a defined period. This can be a general time period like the "first world war", an art period like the "Baroque", a technical period like the "electrical era" or a local period like the "Spanish Golden Age".

You can see the list of existing timeframes here.

  Important notice about time frames for documents or sources:
  The time frame is the period the document is about, not the period of publishing!

Importance

The last organiser is the "importance" of the information. This allows you to limit your results to more essential information, leaving out items that are of minor or local importance.

The list of different levels of importance can be viewed here.

Examples
You can select persons (type of information) in the field of lighting and projection (field) that are essential (importance) for the electrical era (time frame)
You can select lighting and projection (field) equipment (type of information) manufactured in the second world war (time frame)