Collections (item banks) are where items live in the Cirrus library. Use this article to add, manage, archive, and use collections.
The collections overview
Open Library to land on the collections overview. It lists every collection you have created or that has been shared with you.
From the overview you can:
- Open a collection by selecting its row.
- Filter the list.
- Use the action menu to Add, Delete, Archive, or Unarchive.
- See the Title, Last modified date, and item count per collection.
- See each collection's status.
Whether you can add, delete, or archive collections depends on your collection role under Admin > Roles > Collections. If a control is missing or greyed out, check with a System Administrator.
Add a collection
Select Add collection on the action bar.
Fill in:
- Title (mandatory): up to 100 characters.
- Learning objectives (optional): pick a learning objective repository. Only LOs from that repository show on this collection's items.
- Taxonomy (optional): pick a taxonomy category. Only taxonomies from that category show on this collection's items.
You can change these later: open the collection, select the three-dot menu, then Collection settings. The same dialog lets you change the Item ID prefix used for new items in the collection.
Delete, archive, unarchive
Tick one or more collections on the overview and use the action bar:
- Delete moves the collection to the trash. It can be restored within 30 days. After that, the data is permanently deleted.
- Archive preserves the collection but excludes its items from assessment creation. Use this when the collection is retired but should remain on record.
- Unarchive brings an archived collection back into circulation.
How to organise collections
There is no one right structure. Common patterns:
- By subject area.
- By question type.
- By learning objective.
- By school year or programme.
- By owner team.
By default, a collection is visible only to its owner. Share it explicitly with colleagues. See Sharing your collection.