What Is a Dossier?
A Dossier is a thematic research folder — a flexible, subject-based collection of items pulled together from across your archive. Unlike a Fond, which reflects the permanent provenance-based arrangement, a dossier exists for a specific research purpose and can mix material from any number of accessions.
Available on Starter and above — Starter: up to 10 dossiers · Professional: up to 50 · Institution: unlimited.
When to use a dossier
| Scenario | Why a dossier fits |
|---|---|
| Researching a publication | Pull together all the material relevant to your article or book chapter |
| Curating an exhibition | Assemble the items going on display, in one place |
| Answering a reading-room enquiry | "I'm researching my grandfather, who lived in Derby in the 1950s" → dossier of every relevant item |
| Cross-fond thematic analysis | "What can I say about social housing in our holdings?" → dossier of items from many fonds |
| Preparing for digitisation prioritisation | Group the items you've decided to digitise next |
The common thread: temporary, subject-driven groupings that don't belong in your permanent archival arrangement.
Dossier vs Fond — side by side
| Fond | Dossier | |
|---|---|---|
| Organising principle | Provenance | Subject |
| Permanence | Stable, reflects the archive itself | Flexible, ad-hoc |
| Items belong to | Exactly one place in the hierarchy | Multiple dossiers simultaneously |
| Hierarchy | Yes — sub-fonds, series, sub-series | No — flat list of items |
| Exports | EAD3 finding aid | PDF research pack, Markdown, EAD3, CSV |
| Powered AI features | Collection Analysis (per fond level) | Quick Analysis, Full Analysis |
What a dossier contains
- Title and description — what the dossier is for
- Cover picture — one photograph or image from within the dossier, optional (shown on the dossier list and when shared publicly)
- Items — any combination of files from any accessions you can see
- AI Analysis output — Quick or Full, on demand (see Quick vs Full Analysis)
- Visibility — who can see it: just you, your whole workspace, or published on the public portal (see below)
- Citation — a stable link and formatted citation when published, useful for exhibitions or publications
Items in a dossier are linked to their underlying file, not copied. Edits to the file's metadata (in its accession) show through into the dossier; deleting the underlying file removes it from every dossier.
Visibility: Who can see a dossier
Every dossier has a Who can see this setting:
- Just me — only you can see it. A just-me dossier can't go on the public website; share it with your workspace first.
- Everyone in this workspace — colleagues can see and collaborate on it (subject to their role permissions)
- On the public website — published to your portal's public dossiers section with a stable link; visitors can view it without logging in
A published dossier includes a formatted citation so researchers can reference your exhibit in publications. The citation is automatically generated from the dossier's title and your repository name.
When you publish a dossier, you'll typically:
- Add a cover picture (chosen from the dossier's own items)
- Check the title and description
- Click Publish
Plan limits
| Plan | Max dossiers |
|---|---|
| Community | 0 (feature disabled) |
| Starter | 10 |
| Professional | 50 |
| Institution | Unlimited |
These are headroom limits — you delete dossiers when a research project closes, freeing slots.