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Set Up
explanation of title vs copy
- Records contain general information about the item that is the same for every copy. This includes author, publisher, subjects, Lexile, and more. Each title can have one or more copies.
Copy Records represent each individual copy of the title in your collection; each copy is assigned an individual barcode number.
Items may refer to either or both.
- Records contain general information about the item that is the same for every copy. This includes author, publisher, subjects, Lexile, and more. Each title can have one or more copies.
Linking to our info on call numbers and barcodes
our cataloging prefs
your item limits
- how patrons will search and find these items
Catalog
the diff between running barcode labels and unused barcode labels
- Copies Labels Reports. labels for items already entered in Alexandria
- Unused Barcodes report. finds unused barcodes you can send to vendors or use for new materials
things are different for e-resources
- eBooks
- cataloging other things (resources like Chromebooks)
cataloging in MARC or not
using In Processing patron
using the union site
Using Title Assistant to get existing records, or using the update feature to add data you are missing;
Title matching (e.g. isbn will find better matches)
Adding items manually vs via import, and if you add via import how to find all those items to tweak them
- don’t show in researcher
Enhance
- Keep your data clean using authority control and (link to clean up your data article).
- similarly, get the Bestmarc add-on to enhance your records...
- title assistant
Set Up
Linking to our info on call numbers and barcodes
our cataloging prefs
your item limits
- how patrons will search and find these items
Before adding items to Alexandria, there are some things to do that will make everything easier later.
Familiarize yourself with Items Management and Researcher
In Items Management, you'll see title records and copy records. Title records contain general information about the item that is the same for every copy. This includes author, publisher, subjects, Lexile, and more. Each title can have one or more copies. Copy records represent each individual copy of the title in your collection; each copy is assigned an individual barcode number. "Items" may refer to either or both. Your license determines how many title and copy records you can have.
Once you've added titles and copies to Items Management, patrons will be able to search for them in Researcher. See our How Search Works article for information on and which fields are weighted most. This information may be useful as you catalog,
Decide on call number and barcode formats
There are different ways to structure your physical library and, consequently, set up your call numbers, as call numbers indicate where patrons can find items in your library. Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress are common classifications. For genrefied libraries, we recommend using a combination of genre and author last name as call numbers (i.e. a call number of FIC SHU, FIC would be short for the genre—fiction—and SHU would be short for the author's last name—Shusterman).
Call number sections in Alexandria can be separated by spaces and/or periods. Here are some examples of call numbers that work in Alexandria:
- FIC CHR
- 327.67 DEE
- 355 SIE
When printing spine labels, you can choose whether to split sections where there are spaces or spaces & periods.
Alexandria formats call numbers to remove control characters and double spaces, thus correcting incorrectly formatted numbers. If you'd like to keep double spaces in your call numbers, use the "fixed space" character.
What they SHOULD be doing if they are genrefying their library is make sure the CALL Number has the genre at the beginning, followed by the normal stuff, so rather than F Sch or something, it’s Fantasy Sch or something like that. After all the call number is the title LOCATER and a person can tell where in the library it’s stored via the call number, without having to dive into things like shelving codes, which are in the MARC record for other reasons. Those reasons typically include things that are NOT in a place that their call number would indicate. NOTE the text at the start of the call number doesn’t have to be EXACTLY what the genre is, just something that can be used by a person to know where in the library they should look. Fantasy might be FAN, Science Fiction might be SF….etc.
Then so their users can FIND the records, they need to make sure the genre is in the MARC record, if they don’t have it that way, the far easiest way to do that is to have them buy a record cleanup where it’s done to all their records…or they can manually do it….depending upon how they actually want the classification.
Set your cataloging preferences
Before adding any items, adjust your Items Preferences—specifically the Cataloging tab—so that defaults are set.
Catalog
Catalog books
cataloging in MARC or not
using In Processing patron
using the union site
Using Title Assistant to get existing records, or using the update feature to add data you are missing;
Title matching (e.g. isbn will find better matches)
Adding items manually vs via import, and if you add via import how to find all those items to tweak them
Catalog other resources (ebooks, Chromebooks, etc)
Cataloging non-book items is a very similar process.
- Add a new item in Items Management by clicking the plus button at the bottom left corner of the window.
- Click Search or hit Enter on your keyboard. This will bring up a blank title record.
- Next, being that there is no method to change the terminology in the system for fields such as Title, Author, or Publisher; you will want to simply use them for what would be the best equivalent. For example, in the Title field, you might type Chromebook or some term that represents your equipment specifically. Feel free to use any other fields to fill out other important related information about your non-book that will help you reference it throughout the program, see it in reports, or to see it in the patron facing interfaces.
- I usually suggest adding one title and one copy at first. With this first item, you can do some tests in the program to see how the item looks in reports or other screens where you know you will be looking for and using those items. When adding lots of data and items it always helps to start small, test it out, then go big by adding more data.
- The Copy section is where you would want to put information unique to the individual pieces of hardware, such as the serial number. Do make sure NOT to use the serial number of the individual device as it's barcode. You will want to barcode the items just as you would a book.
Another important part of the process to consider is creating new Policies and Mediums to accommodate these new and different items that will be in your collection. With new policies, you will be able to better manage longer or unusual check out times as well as larger replacement costs and other important circulation rules. With new mediums you will be able to more easily run reports, view the new items under the Items management interface, run searches for patron facing viewing, and more easily manipulate the data for these items with utilities.
See our Cataloging eBooks and eReaders pages for information specific to those items.
Modify records
- MARC & RDA
- Mediums in Alexandria
- Cataloging Series and Serials
- don't show in researcher
Print labels
the diff between running barcode labels and unused barcode labels
- Copies Labels Reports. labels for items already entered in Alexandria
- Unused Barcodes report. finds unused barcodes you can send to vendors or use for new materials
Enhance
Keep your data clean
- Keep your data clean using authority control and (link to clean up your data article).
Add or update information
- similarly, get the Bestmarc add-on to enhance your records...
- title assistant