Tip of the Week

Tip for: 02.25.08

Cataloging Made Easy Using MARC Search

Summary:  Cataloging has never been easier!  For those of you that have an Alexandria "A" license, MARC Search enables you to search up to twenty z39.50 servers at the same time to locate more complete records to update your brief records or to copy catalog new items into your system.

1. Go to Edit on the menu bar and select Preferences.
2.  From the first drop-down menu in the upper-left corner of the window, select MARC Search Settings and select Default Local from the second drop-down menu.

3.  Using the drop-down menu, set the Timeout (seconds) to the desired length of time, (5 seconds is enough, really!) and set the Max Results to the number of desired results.
4.  If you are only searching for books, remove the check mark from the Search for non-books check box. 
5.  Click on Save.
6. Still in Preferences, select Administration from the first drop-down menu and Global from the second drop-down menu.
7. Click on the Address Books tab and select Standard Z39.50 Address Book in the left pane of the window.

8. Double click on a server you want to activate and the following window will open for that Z39.50 address.

9. Change the Availability to Available using the drop-down menu in the upper-right corner of the window and click on OK.
10.Repeat Step 5 until you have selected all the servers that you want (LIMIT of 20!!!!)
The following are some suggested z39.50 sites:
California - Public - Marin County P.L.
DC - Special - Library of Congress
Florida - Special - Florida State Library
Massachusetts - Public - Metro Boston Library Network
Utah - Public - Salt Lake City Public
Utah - University – BYU
Ohio - Special – OhioLINK

You may also add the following Z39.50 servers by clicking on the Add icon (+) at the bottom of the window under the z39.50 Server List. Click on OK after adding each one.

11. Save your preferences settings and close the Preferences window.
12. Go to the Items Management module.
13. Click on Items on the menu bar and select New Title.
14. Type in the ISBN, LCCN, or Title.
15. Click on Items on the menu bar and select MARC Search.
16. When the MARC Search Results window opens, if more than one copy of the item’s MARC record is found, use the scroll bar on the MARC Search Results window to view the additional MARC records.  Select the one you want, add the call number and click on Save.

17. Go to Items on the menu bar and select Add Copy.
18. Fill in any information on the Copy window that you wish to add then click on Save on the Copy window.
15. If you have more than one copy of a title, repeat steps 13 and 14 for each additional copy.
16. Click on Save in the upper-right corner of Item window if the Save button is showing.

17. Repeat process to add another book.