Skip to Main Content

Georgia Southern Scholars

Facilities/Equipment

Office Hours Available: Need help updating your profile? Email digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu to schedule a one-on-one!

Facilities and equipment are physical spaces, equipment, and components used for scholarly and creative activities. GS Scholars supports three facility and equipment types:

  • Facility: Physical space used for scholarship, often housing equipment and components.
  • Equipment: Physical resource used for scholarship, including instruments, devices, and tools.
  • Component: Physical or digital component used with equipment for scholarship, including software, consumable parts, reagents, etc.

Information about facilities and equipment is maintained by the colleges and other units responsible for these resources. Labs with large inventories are encouraged to organize equipment topically. For example, as of late 2024, the COSM Core Research Laboratory (CCRL) organizes resources into four categories: Mass Spectrometry, Materials Characterization, NMR and X-ray Diffraction.

Per this screenshot of the Facilities/Equipment menu and the instructions below, this Lab ⇒ Topic ⇒ Resource structure employs hierarchical parent / child relationships between records. To maintain this structure, the Office of Research and the GS Libraries recommend the following high-level steps when creating and updating facility and equipment records:

  1. Use a Facility record to create the physical Lab or research space.
  2. Use Equipment records to create any topical Menu Item(s).
  3. Use Equipment and Component records to create any Instruments, Devices, etc. housed in the Lab.
  4. In the Hierarchy section of each Menu Item, make the Lab record the Parent.
  5. In the Hierarchy section of each Instrument, Device, Etc., make the Menu Item record the Parent. Alternatively, if there is no relevant Menu Item record, make the Lab record the Parent of the Instrument, Device, Etc.

The instructions below include these high-level steps. Contact the GS Commons Team if you have any concerns about organizing facilities and equipment records.

Add or Update a Record for a Facility, Equipment, or Component

To add or update a record, follow these instructions:

  • Create a New Record or Open an Existing Record
    Follow these instructions to create a new record or open an existing record.
  • Update the Available Updates Tab
    Follow these instructions if you open an existing record and the Available Updates tab displays.
  • Update the Metadata Tab
    For the Metadata tab, complete the following sections:
    • Metadata Tab: Type
      For the Type section, complete the following required field:
      • Type
        In the Type field, select the record type corresponding to the facility, equipment, or component from the dropdown. Please Note: Per the instructions above, 1) use the Facilities type to create physical lab or research spaces, 2) use the Equipment type to create menu items for organizing inventory, and 3) use either the Equipment type or the Component type to create any instruments, devices, software, reagents, etc. housed in the lab.
        Screenshot of the type field for facilities/equipment
    • Metadata Tab: Description
      For the Description section, complete the following required and optional fields:
      • Title (required)
        In the Title field, enter the title or name of the facility, equipment, component, or menu item.
      • Description
        In the Description field, enter a brief description of the facility, equipment, or component. Leave this field blank for menu items.
    • Metadata Tab: Details
      For the Details section, complete the following optional field. Skip this section for menu items. Please Note: The Details field is used to record information about multiple copies or instances of a facility, piece of equipment, or component on a single record. For example, you can create one record for a particular model of microscope, then add details about three physical microscopes with the same model number. Leave this field blank if the record is intended for only one copy or instance of a facility, piece of equipment, or component.
      • Details
        In the Details field, click Add details... and complete the following required and optional fields to enter details about one or more copies or instances of the facility, equipment, or component.
        • Name (required)
          In the Name field, enter the name of the particular copy or instance.
        • Associated IDs
          In the Associated IDs field, click Add ID to add any relevant ID number(s) associated with the particular copy or instance. Select the type from the ID Type dropdown (required), enter the ID number in the ID field (required), then click Create. Add multiple IDs for the particular copy or instance as needed.
        • Acquisition Date & Decommission Date
          In the Acquisition Date and Decommission Date fields, enter the dates that the particular copy or instance was acquired and/or decommissioned.
        • Value
          In the Value field, enter the monetary value of the particular copy or instance in U.S dollars.
        • Manufacturers
          In the Manufacturers field, click Add manufacturer... to search for and add the organization that manufactured the particular copy or instance. If the organization does not appear, click Create to add the organization. The GS Commons Team will update the organization if needed.
    • Metadata Tab: Persons and Organizations & Facility/Equipment Managed By Sections
      Follow these instructions to update the Persons and Organizations section and these instructions to update the Facility/Equipment Managed By section according to the following instructions outlined above:
      • For physical lab or research space records: include the responsible college for the lab in the Persons and Organizations section along with any persons or impact areas. Furthermore, include the responsible college as the managing unit in the Facility/Equipment Managed By section.
      • For menu item records: include the responsible college for the corresponding lab only in the Persons and Organizations section. Furthermore, include the responsible college as the managing unit in the Facility/Equipment Managed By section.
      • For instrument, device, software, reagent, etc. records: include the responsible college for the corresponding lab only in the Persons and Organizations section. Furthermore, include the responsible college as the managing unit in the Facility/Equipment Managed By section.
    • Metadata Tab: Access to Facility/Equipment
      For the Access to Facility/Equipment section, complete the following optional fields. Skip this section for menu items. Please Note: If the record represents multiple copies or instances of a facility, equipment, or component (see Details section above), then the access information included here will appear for all copies or instances on the record.
      • Contact Persons
        In the Contact Persons field, click Add contact person… to search for and add one or more contact persons for the facility, equipment, or component.
      • Addresses
        In the Addresses field, add one or more addresses for the facility, equipment, or component. Enter either a structured address (which divides the address into street, building, postal code, city, country, and subdivision sections) or an unstructured address (which allows the address to be entered into a single text box) as well as geolocation information if relevant.
        A pair of screenshots showing the difference between structured and unstructued addresses
      • Phone Numbers
        In the Phone Numbers field, add one or more phone numbers related to the facility, equipment, or component in the following format: 912/555-1234. Select the phone number type from the Type dropdown.
      • Emails
        In the Emails field, enter one or more email addresses related to the facility, equipment, or component.
      • Web Addresses
        In the Web Addresses field, enter one or more web addresses related to the facility, equipment, or component. Select the address type from the Type dropdown.
      • Available for Loan/Booking
        In the Available for Loan/Booking field, indicate if the facility, equipment, or component is available to loan or book for use. Notify the GS Commons Team at digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu if the following options are inadequate:
        • Not available for loan
        • Available for loan - internal only
        • Available for loan - internal and external
      • Terms of Loan/Booking
        In the Terms of Loan/Booking field, indicate the terms and conditions for borrowing or using the facility, equipment, or component. Include any relevant loan or booking procedures.
    • Metadata Tab: Photo
      For the Photo section, complete the following optional field. Skip this section for menu items.
      • Photo
        In the Photo field, click Add Image... to upload a logo or image of the facility, equipment, or component. Select Photo in the Category dropdown to publicly display the image below the description in the record on GS Scholars. Complete the Copyright Statement, Caption, and Alt-Text fields as appropriate. Please Note: When uploading images, be sure to: 1) include alternative text for all images; 2) only upload images that the University is free to display in accordance with U.S. copyright law; and 3) check the appearance of the image in the public display to make sure that is looks how you intend. Contact the GS Commons Team at digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu with any questions.
    • Metadata Tab: Hierarchy
      For the Hierarchy section, complete the Hierarchy field according to the following:
      • For physical lab or research space records: skip this section.
      • For menu item records: make the relevant Lab record the Parent.
      • For instrument, device, software, reagent, etc. records: make the relevant Menu Item record the Parent. Alternatively, if there is no Menu Item record, make the Lab record the Parent.
    • Metadata Tab: Keywords
      Follow these instructions to update the Keywords section. Skip this section for menu items.
    • Metadata Tab: Relations
      Follow these instructions to update the Relations section. Skip this section for menu items.
    • Metadata Tab: Visibility
      Follow these instructions to update the Visibility section.
  • Review the Relations Tab
    Follow these instructions to review the Relations tab.
  • Update the Fingerprints Tab
    Follow these instructions to update the Fingerprints tab.
  • Update the History and Comments Tab
    Follow these instructions to update the History and Comments tab.

 

For help, contact the GS Commons Team at digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu. A team member will respond as soon as possible during regular business hours.