Amtgard Ephemera

Collecting and documenting links to our past

I figured I would throw together a quick how to for people looking to add their own Amtgard ephemera to the site.

First, a definition of ephemera: "things that exist or are used or enjoyed for only a short time.
items of collectible memorabilia, typically written or printed ones, that were originally expected to have only short-term usefulness or popularity."
Within Amtgard, these are things such as event favors, reign specific garb, crowns, event tshirts, and unique awards. Normal garb or swords do not qualify, but things that are made for a limited timeframe and purpose do, basically.

So, you have a cool event favor that we dont have on the site yet. The first step is to create an account, then log in. The log in on the left of the screen. You will have to wait for you account to be approved, but that shouldn't be long.

Once you are logged in, to add an item you select add item from the upper right, between My Account and Log Out. This leads to a somewhat confusing screen, that will look very familiar to anyone who has worked in a museum. The form was created by two individuals with museum experience, to create a high quality database.

The first field is "Full Title" this is the name that will appear on the item listing. You want to try and include the event that it is related to as well as the year, and a one or two word description of the item. Examples: "Neverwinter Midreign School bus favor 2009" "Gathering of the Clans 2005 Favor" "Pegasus Valley Coin 1998"

Next is the physical description which has a few pieces.
First is Item type. This is a drop down menu. This refers to the physical type of object. If it hangs on your belt, it is a belt favor(we will get to the different reasons an item might exist later). Some categories have subcategories, such as Award and Other certificate being subcategories of certificate. Tokens refer to coins and some event favors, the ones that are more of medallions than belt favors.
Next is color, which should be straight forward. List colors in order of prominence. This will allow individuals to search for all blue items, if they wish.
Material should also be straight forward. Be as specific as possible, but simple answers such as cloth or paper are acceptable.
The item description should be in paragraph form, including quotes of any words or marks on the object, as well as listing out what colors things are and a lose size if possible. View some existing entries for ideas, but the goal is to be able to understand the object and pick it out of a pile without a picture.

The next section of the form is the Item Purpose.
The items purpose looks at why that object was created and what it was used for. It begins with a drop down of Item Use. Affiliation means that the item shows that the wearer is affiliated with a group. It then has subcategories of Group (meaning park or chapter), Unit (meaning fighting company or household), and Team (meaning an item used to show what team someone is on for a game or event). Propaganda refers to items created to support a candidate running for office. Item token/tag refers to something used to track an item in a scenario game, such as a sword token in a Knoblander. The are most common in 24 hour rp events.
The item use notes should just expand on this category somewhat, such as explaining how the sword tokens were used in the game, or how the teams were divided. Additional details that better tell the story of the object and put it into context of how it was used.

Provenience is a term indicating the history of where the item came from, and whos hands it passed though.
The original owner is the person who collected the item at gate, or who was given the scroll.
The current owner is likely the person doing the input, but it should be who currently owns this object, to tell where to go for additional pictures or information.
The acquired date should be the date that the item was given out, often at gate or court.
The created date may often not be known, but should be when the item was first made. This may sometimes be well before the item was acquired if an item was re-purposed, or if it was traded for while traveling.
With all dates, come as close as possible, defaulting to the first when something is unknown.
The distributing fields contain directions on the page, but all information should be listed. For example, in distributing chapter, list the kingdom and press add, then list the park and press add.

Congratulations, you have filled out all of the needed information! Just add a few pictures of the item, and press submit.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, either as a comment here or on facebook.