A Source is one of the main objects that the system deals with: Contacts, Artists, and Artworks, and the things you can do with Artworks.

Depending on your version of Voltaire, you will see different Sources.

Contacts are the individuals and organizations you do business with. Voltaire makes a distinction between individuals and organizations, and allows you to link individuals to an organization, and to link individuals to each other. (Contacts are represented by a dark blue folder icon.)

Artists are special Contacts, or special views of Contacts. An Artist may also be listed in Contacts, with all their contact information. (Artists are represented by a dark blue folder icon.)

Artworks are all of the individual works of art that you deal with or have an interest in. (Artworks are represented by a dark blue folder icon.)

Jobs are anything that can be done with Artworks: you can make a Consignment, a Reserve, an Offer, a Sale, an Acquisition, a Loan, an Exhibition, or a Shipment with a selection of Artworks.

There is a special class of Jobs called Transactions. These are Jobs that affect an Artwork's State. Transactions that affect an Artwork's State include Consignments, Reserves, Offers, and Sales (see the chapter 5 An Introduction to Artworks & Jobs for details). (Transactions are represented by a medium blue folder icon.)

Jobs that do not affect the Status of an Artwork include Loans, Exhibitions, and Shipments. (Non-transactional Jobs are represented by a light blue folder icon.)

Each Source has a special menu in the Menu Bar with the title of the Source. For example, when you are in the Artworks Source, you will see an Artworks menu to the right of the Sets menu; when you are in the Contacts Source, you will see a Contacts menu. This is where you can choose to do a Job with an Artwork, or batch change information for selected Contacts, among other things. (See the section 3.5 The Menu Bar for details.)