Records in Contexts (RiC)¶
Understanding Archival Relationships¶
What is RiC?¶
Records in Contexts (RiC) is a new way of describing archives that shows how everything connects. Instead of just listing records, RiC reveals:
- Who created the records
- What activities produced them
- Where they came from
- How they relate to other records
Think of it like a family tree, but for archives.
The RiC Explorer¶
Finding It¶
On any record page, look for the RiC tab or panel. This shows you the record's relationships.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SMITH PAPERS │
├──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬─────────────────┤
│ Overview │ Contents │ Notes │ RiC │ Digital Objects │
└──────────┴──────────┴──────────┴────┬─────┴─────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ RELATIONSHIPS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ CREATED BY │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ 👤 John Smith (1890-1965) │
│ Businessman, Johannesburg │
│ │
│ RELATED RECORDS │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ 📁 Smith & Co. Business Records │
│ 📁 Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce │
│ │
│ SUBJECTS │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ 🏷️ Mining Industry │
│ 🏷️ Johannesburg History │
│ │
│ [ View Graph ] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Understanding the Graph View¶
2D Graph¶
Click View Graph to see relationships visually:
┌─────────────┐
│ Mining │
│ Industry │
└──────┬──────┘
│
is about
│
┌─────────────┐ ┌──────▼──────┐ ┌─────────────┐
│ John │─created─▶│ Smith │◀─part of─│ Business │
│ Smith │ │ Papers │ │ Records │
└─────────────┘ └──────┬──────┘ └─────────────┘
│
held at
│
┌──────▼──────┐
│ Provincial │
│ Archives │
└─────────────┘
What the Colours Mean¶
| Colour | Entity Type |
|---|---|
| 🔵 Blue | Records (fonds, series, files) |
| 🟢 Green | People and organisations |
| 🟡 Yellow | Places |
| 🟣 Purple | Events and activities |
| 🟠 Orange | Concepts and subjects |
Interacting with the Graph¶
- Click a node to see its details
- Drag nodes to rearrange
- Scroll to zoom in/out
- Double-click to focus on a node
3D Graph View¶
For complex relationships, try the 3D view:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ○ Mining Industry │
│ / │
│ / │
│ ●───────────────○ Smith Papers │
│ / \ \ │
│ / \ \ │
│ ○ ○ ○ │
│ John Chamber Provincial │
│ Smith of Commerce Archives │
│ │
│ [Rotate] [Zoom] [Reset] [2D View] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
3D Controls¶
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Rotate | Click and drag |
| Zoom | Scroll wheel |
| Pan | Right-click and drag |
| Select | Click on node |
| Reset | Press R or click Reset |
The RiC Dashboard¶
Administrators can access the full RiC Dashboard at Admin → RiC Explorer
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ RIC DASHBOARD │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ STATISTICS │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ 📊 Total Entities: 15,234 │
│ 🔗 Total Relations: 42,891 │
│ 📁 Records: 8,421 │
│ 👤 Agents: 3,156 │
│ 📍 Places: 892 │
│ 📅 Events: 1,245 │
│ │
│ RECENT ACTIVITY │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ • New relation: Smith → created → Papers │
│ • Updated: Mining Industry subject │
│ • Sync completed: 1,234 triples │
│ │
│ QUICK ACTIONS │
│ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ [ Browse All ] [ Search ] [ Full Graph ] [ Sync ] │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Searching with RiC¶
Semantic Search¶
RiC enables smarter searching:
Traditional search: "Smith mining" → Finds records with those words
Semantic search: "Records created by people involved in mining" → Finds records through relationships, even if "mining" isn't in the text
How to Search¶
- Go to RiC Explorer → Search
- Enter your query
- Choose search type:
| Type | Finds |
|---|---|
| Keyword | Text matches |
| Entity | People, places, events |
| Relationship | Connected records |
| Path | Multi-step connections |
Understanding Entity Types¶
Records (What we hold)¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 📁 RECORD RESOURCE │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Examples: │
│ • Fonds (whole collection) │
│ • Series (group of files) │
│ • File (folder) │
│ • Item (single document) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Agents (Who created/used them)¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 👤 AGENT │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Examples: │
│ • Person (John Smith) │
│ • Organisation (ABC Company) │
│ • Family (The Smiths) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Activities (What produced them)¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ⚙️ ACTIVITY │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Examples: │
│ • Business function (Accounting) │
│ • Government function (Land Survey) │
│ • Personal activity (Correspondence) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Places (Where they're from)¶
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 📍 PLACE │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Examples: │
│ • City (Johannesburg) │
│ • Building (Town Hall) │
│ • Region (Gauteng) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Common Relationships¶
| Relationship | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| created | Made by | Smith created the Papers |
| accumulated | Collected by | Archive accumulated the Papers |
| is part of | Belongs to | File is part of Series |
| is about | Subject matter | Papers are about Mining |
| was held at | Location | Records were held at Office |
| preceded | Came before | Series A preceded Series B |
| is associated with | General connection | Person associated with Company |
For Researchers¶
Why RiC Helps Your Research¶
- Discover connections you wouldn't find otherwise
- Understand context - who, what, where, when
- Find related materials across collections
- Trace provenance - where records came from
Example Research Journey¶
You're researching: "Gold mining in 1890s Johannesburg"
1. Search finds: "Mining Company Records"
│
│ RiC shows this was "created by"
▼
2. Discover: "Chamber of Mines"
│
│ RiC shows "members included"
▼
3. Find: "Individual mine owners"
│
│ RiC shows "personal papers"
▼
4. Access: "Private correspondence about mining"
Without RiC, you might have missed steps 3 and 4!
Tips for Using RiC¶
Start broad, then narrow - Begin with the graph view - See the big picture - Click into specific connections
Follow the people - Agents often link many records - One person might connect different collections
Check both directions - Who created this? (look backwards) - What else did they create? (look forwards)
Use semantic search for complex questions - "Records about mining created by government" - "Materials related to Johannesburg before 1900"
Troubleshooting¶
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Graph won't load | Refresh the page |
| Too many nodes | Filter by entity type |
| Can't find relationships | Check if record has been synced |
| 3D view slow | Try 2D view for large graphs |
RiC is based on the ICA Records in Contexts standard (RiC-CM 1.0).
For technical questions, contact your system administrator.