Heratio Help Center article. Category: User Guide.

ahgInformationObjectManagePlugin — Archival Descriptions (ISAD(G))

The ahgInformationObjectManagePlugin is Heratio's core cataloguing surface — the place where archivists create, edit, and manage archival descriptions per ISAD(G) (General International Standard Archival Description).

Information objects (IOs) are the records visitors discover and researchers cite. Every record in the GLAM browse, every URL ending in a slug like /cabinet-minutes-1965, every digital object's parent — they're all information_object rows.

What an information object is

An information_object describes one archival entity at one level of description in the hierarchy. ISAD(G) defines six standard levels:

Fonds  →  Sub-fonds  →  Series  →  Sub-series  →  File  →  Item

Each row in the information_object table sits at one level and points at its parent via parent_id, forming a tree. The MPTT lft/rgt columns let queries fetch a fonds and all descendants in one range scan.

A single PDF, photograph, audio file, or other digital file lives in a digital_object row that points back at its information_object via object_id. A photograph isn't an IO — the description of the photograph is the IO; the file is the digital object attached to it.

Where it lives

ISAD(G) field set

The edit form is structured into the seven ISAD(G) areas:

All title-style fields (title, scope_and_content, archival_history, …) live in information_object_i18n per culture; structural fields (identifier, parent_id, level_of_description_id, repository_id) live in information_object.

The plugin also supplements ISAD(G) with optional sidebar panels (visible when the relevant secondary plugin is enabled): Spectrum data, Heritage Assets, Provenance, Condition reports, Digital preservation, AI tools, Privacy & PII, RiC actions.

Common workflows

Create a new fonds

1. /informationobject/add (or click Add in the navbar).
2. Set Level of description = Fonds, Parent = root.
3. Fill identifier, title, creation dates.
4. Save. The IO is created in draft status by default — flip to published from /<slug>/update-status.

Add a series under that fonds

1. From the fonds show page, click Add child.
2. Level = Series; Parent is auto-populated.
3. Title, dates, scope and content. Save.

Bulk import via CSV

1. /ingest (preferred) or /informationobject/import/csv (classic AtoM-style).
2. Upload your CSV (see the AtoM Reference template — legacyId, parentId, title, levelOfDescription, repository, dates, scopeAndContent, etc.).
3. Map columns to fields, preview the first 50 rows, commit. Background job runs the import; progress at /admin/jobs.

Attach a digital object

Method A — at IO creation: include digitalObjectURI in the CSV manifest. Method B — after the fact: open the IO show page and use Edit digital object in the right sidebar (when ahgInformationObjectManagePlugin and ahgDigitalObject features are wired). Or just upload via /ftpUpload/index and link via CSV.

Move/reparent

Use /<slug>/move. The MPTT lft/rgt of the entire subtree is recalculated server-side. Cheap for small subtrees, costly (~seconds) for fonds with thousands of descendants — runs as a background job for very large moves.

Sidebar plugin extensions

The right sidebar of an IO show page is composed of opt-in panels, each gated by a plugin enable flag:

Each panel autoframes itself off when its plugin is disabled — you don't see "AI Tools" if ahgAIPlugin is off.

Permissions

Per-record overrides are configured at /admin/security-clearance — useful when one record in an otherwise-public fonds needs to be embargoed.

Permalinks, slugs, and identifiers

Three different stable IDs:

• information_object.id — the database PK; never visible to users; never reused.
• information_object.identifier — the archival identifier (e.g. "AHG-001-1965"). Cataloguer-set. Unique within a fonds. This is what archivists cite.
• slug.slug — the URL-friendly form (e.g. cabinet-minutes-1965). Auto-generated from the title; can be renamed manually.

The slug is the public URL component. Renaming a slug breaks old bookmarks unless you create an HTTP redirect (admin task; not currently UI-driven).

Common gotchas

• parent_id = 1 is the IO root sentinel. Top-level fonds always have parent_id = 1. Don't delete row id 1.
• Publication status lives in the status table (type_id=158), not in information_object. To flip a record from draft to published, use /<slug>/update-status — don't UPDATE the column directly.
• Slug catch-all — the route /{slug} is the last route in the table. Any new top-level URL must be added to the slug-route exclusion list (packages/ahg-information-object-manage/routes/web.php) or it'll be intercepted as a slug-resolve.
• MPTT integrity — manual SQL DELETE/UPDATE on information_object will corrupt the lft/rgt range. Always go through the controller (or php artisan ahg:nested-set-rebuild) when you must touch hierarchy.
• Soft moves on large subtrees — moving a fonds with 100k+ descendants takes a long time. Plan it during a low-traffic window or use php artisan ahg:io-move <fromId> <toId> from the CLI for non-blocking execution.

Related

• ahgDisplayPlugin — the GLAM browse + faceted search front-end
• ahgRepositoryManagePlugin — the institutions that hold these IOs
• ahgActorManagePlugin — the people/orgs that created them
• ahgIngestPlugin — the CSV / file batch import wizard
• ahgFormsPlugin — admin-configurable IO edit forms (per repository)
• Help articles: Spectrum 5.0, Provenance Management, Condition Reports