# A tiny collection guide

## Useful question and preparation

“Which thing does this entry represent, and where does this record say it is?” A guide helps a willing reader find the right represented item. It does not guarantee a real object is still in that place. An old record can remain accurately dated while a new one reports a change.

Prepare three locally approved broad familiar objects, such as a closed book, a clean cloth and a broad empty cardboard box, or a different manageable approved set. Adult handles/places items if needed. No purchase, child cutting, forced touch, food, sharp tool, private household object, identifying photo or recording is required. Agree a reachable view/description route and three labelled tabletop positions: LEFT, MIDDLE, RIGHT. These are positions on this guide, not instructions to travel or a real public navigation/safety system.

A real book/cloth/box is an object-data item. A drawn book/cloth/box picture represents it in picture form; a large agreed shape represents it in symbol form. A screen picture of a book is not the physical-object form. Broad safe raised outlines/exact spoken descriptions may support identity/order, but touch is optional. If a learner directs an adult or works from an attributed report, record that route rather than inventing direct observation.

## Source A · original invented snapshot

Title **TABLE GUIDE A**. Source/type: SubjectNest original computer-created teaching model. Pretend snapshot label **MODEL TIME A**; no actual classroom/date/outcome.

| Entry | Supplied object identity | Supplied position |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BK | BOOK | LEFT |
| CL | CLOTH | MIDDLE |
| BX | BOX | RIGHT |

Original model pictures: closed book with two broad cover lines; cloth shown as one broad wavy-edged square; box shown as a broad open-top rectangle. These are labelled illustrations, not photographed real objects. Read identities/positions exactly through an available route.

## Source B · agreed guide key

**CIRCLE means BOOK. SQUARE means CLOTH. TRIANGLE means BOX.** The symbol meaning is agreed for this guide only, not universal. Labels/exact words accompany every shape. Source A's symbol position row is **CIRCLE at LEFT / SQUARE at MIDDLE / TRIANGLE at RIGHT**. A learner can choose a different own key with one distinct meaning per symbol, documented accurately; keep that key with its guide.

## Source C · later invented snapshot, same identities

Title **TABLE GUIDE C**, label **MODEL TIME C**. **BK/BOOK at RIGHT; CL/CLOTH at MIDDLE; BX/BOX at LEFT.** Only BOOK and BOX positions changed relative to A; CLOTH position stayed MIDDLE. The key did not change. These are two supplied invented rows, not observed classroom movement. Source A is retained as the earlier model record rather than silently overwritten. No reason for the move or real reader success is supplied.

## Source D · incomplete record

Title **TABLE GUIDE D**, label **MODEL TIME D**. **BK/BOOK at LEFT; CL/CLOTH at MIDDLE; BX/BOX position NOT RECORDED.** NOT RECORDED does not mean no box exists or that it is RIGHT. A reader may ask for a checked current entry; a guess stays a guess. The planned finder must show this uncertainty rather than invent a location.

## Actual local guide route

Educator approves the familiar objects, reachable view/descriptions, named position convention, source/date and manageable task. Child chooses what to represent and how. Preserve actual object identity/position evidence, picture/symbol key, exact child decisions, attributed support/report, actual source/date and any later observation separately. If the actual set differs, make a new record; never use model data as a real result. Locally naming LEFT/RIGHT may need explicit support or different agreed position labels; that is an access choice, not a Digital Technologies attainment test.

Ask one real willing reader to use the child's guide only if the child wishes. Record what the reader actually selected/noticed or NONE. Planned sharing and imaginary reader success are not events. Keeping the guide private is respected; no public display, name, upload or account is needed.

## Own data without collecting details

Use empty category cards **MY OWN NAME**, **A PHOTO OF ME**, **MY OWN DRAWING**, **MY OWN GUIDE KEY**, **SUPPLIED MODEL KEY**. Never fill identifying values, inspect family photos or ask for a real recording. Learner may identify categories or pass. Own drawings/guide keys can be child-created data without identifying the child; identifying details and created/owned data are related but different ideas. A supplied adult model key is not the child's creation just because they read it. Record actual own-data recognition; no legal ownership/publication permission judgment follows automatically.

## Offline finder and paper equivalent

The fixed-choice [finder](interactive/collection-finder.html) offers Sources A/C/D, one requested item and Pictures/Words/Symbols views. Its result says **THE SUPPLIED RECORD SAYS**, with model source/time and exact position or NOT RECORDED. It does not label a model location as a real current observation or call screen pictures physical objects. Complete [paper route](interactive/PAPER-EQUIVALENT.md): choose a source table above, select BOOK/CLOTH/BOX and read the corresponding row with its key/source/time. No JavaScript/device is needed for representation decisions. Actual hardware/software exploration requires the separate [device gate](DEVICE-GATE.md).