Recollector comes with a number of built-in templates. However, every collection has its individual characteristics, and every collector has a particular idea about what pieces of information should be gathered for the items in their collection.
MapRecord Publications invites users of Recollector to share their own collection designs with other collectors. Explore the collection templates submitted by other users. If a template appeals to you as a good starting point for starting your own collection, simply download the template (each template is a single XML file) and save it to your hard disk. The template is a ready-to-use collection file, but it contains no data records. On Windows: To begin using the downloaded template, start up Recollector.If the Recollector Start-Up window is displayed, click the Browse to find and open a collection file button, and navigate to and select the template XML file that you just saved to your disk. A new collection will be added to your collection list, and it will be opened in a new (empty) collection window. If you already have a collection window open, pick Open from the File menu, and navigate to and choose the downloaded collection file. A new (empty) collection window will open On Mac: To begin using the downloaded template, start up Recollector. Pick Open from the File menu, and navigate to and choose the downloaded collection file. A new (empty) collection window will open. At this point you are free to start adding data to the collection, or, more likely, you will want to tweak the collection design a bit, by choosing Modify Fields or Image Directory from the Edit menu. In the Modify Fields dialog, you are free to add, modify, or delete fields. You can also rename the collection, change the currency or dimension units, or specify an Image Directory. If the collection has picklists, you can choose Manage Picklists from the Options menu to add, modify or delete picklists. |
Click on any template listed here to display a page that describes the template in full and provides a link for downloading the XML file for the collection template.
| Gem collection (27 fields + 15 picklists) |
| Zippo lighter collection (contributed by David J. Morgan) (26 fields + 10 picklists) |
| Mineral collection (contributed by Jake Harper) (20 fields + 3 picklists) |
| Pelikan fountain pen collection (contributed by Joshua E. Danley) (48 fields + 25 picklists) |
| Antique fans collection (contributed by Deborah Weddle; based on the paper cataloging form suggested by the Fan Association of North America) (37 fields) |
Do you have a collection design that you would like to share with the Recollector user community? It is easy to do: Choose Export Collection Template (on the Mac this choice is called Save as Collection Template) from the File menu of the collection window. Send the exported XML file as an attachment to an email message to templates@maprecord.com. In the email, let us know whether you want your name and/or email address to be listed, or whether you want your submission to be anonymous. Templates will be reviewed before being added to the public list, above.