# Overview of templates

A Template is a tool with which you look at an individual record in your data, highlighting the elements of the record to be seen at a glance (such as names and descriptions).

Different templates are needed to display different types of records, because they contain different fields and different types of data (such as objects, organisations and media).

You can use existing templates, and you can also create a custom template for your record results, so that you can see exact patterns of data and fields for individual records when you have found them in a search.

Some templates will already already exist in your CIIM installation. There will usually be a default template for each type of object, for example:

A Record Template that typically presents data from an item in your collection. This will be called Record Default.
An Agent Template that typically presents data about an organisation or agent (such as a museum or collecting body). This will be called Agent default.

When looking at an individual record, you will see a choice of templates in the Using Template dropdown. Which templates are available depends on the data in the record that you are looking at.

You can also create your own custom template for a different view of the data for you or for someone else in your organisation.