Overview
The Athenaeum classifies incidents using a four-level system. Classification determines the response escalation path, the notification requirements, and the record-keeping obligations. The full classification guidance is an internal document. This is the public summary.
Classification levels
Level 1 — Minor: An incident causing no lasting effect on objects, staff, or site conditions. Managed by the responsible department. Logged in the departmental record.
Level 2 — Significant: An incident requiring cross-departmental response, causing temporary disruption to collections access or site conditions, or involving an object requiring immediate conservation assessment. Notified to the Registrar.
Level 3 — Serious: An incident involving frame instability, ontological event, temporal deviation, or significant risk to objects, staff, or custody partners. Notified to the Registrar and the Frame Integrity department. The Ministry of Grace is informed where their jurisdiction is engaged.
Level 4 — Critical: An incident requiring immediate site closure, ministerial notification, or involving an accession in active ontological change. All relevant partners are notified. The Registrar assumes direct management.
Non-classifiable incidents
Incidents that cannot be assigned a classification level — because their nature, scale, or duration is not yet determined — are held as open pending assessment by the Registrar and Frame Integrity. They do not close automatically. Some incidents have remained open for longer than is comfortable to record.