Scenario - Import Used Books

You've obtained some physical items but have no electronic records for them. You are looking for the best method to get this information into Alexandria so you can search and circulate these additions.

There are multiple strategies for this situation. You can use one more more of these strategies to quickly enter the data into your system.

Option 1 - Use SmartMARC Title Assistant

Use the SmartMARC® Title Assistant to locate the books via their ISBN or UPC code. SmartMARC will help you find a matching Title in your collection to which you can add a new Copy, or will locate a Title Record from your configured Z39.50 servers. Once you find a matching Title, you can assign a copy to the title record, give it a barcode, and affix a barcode label to the physical item before you save the information into Alexandria.

Option 2 - Use a Spreadsheet

Enter the title information into a simple spreadsheet with one unique title per row. Include as much information as relevant, including title, author, call number, and ISBN, if possible. Import the tab delimited data into Alexandria using the “Add Titles and Copies” Import Option and “Always add at least one Copy”. If you have more than one copy of any given title you will need to locate those records following the import to create additional copies. When using this option you will want to run a Copy Labels report following the import to generate the necessary labels to affix to the physical items. Use the Copies Added selection to easily limit the report to creating labels only for items added today!

Supported Data Formats

• Tab Delimited

Import Settings

• Add Titles and Copies. Selected. Each row in the import file contains title information only. You will want Alexandria to create a new title for the information in each row, and also add or create a copy to go along with it.

• Always add at least one Copy. Selected. See note above.

• Title Update Matching. This setting is ignored in this case, since only new titles and copies are being added.

Before Importing

• Skip First Record if Field Mapping. This option should be checked if you have included a header row in your spreadsheet. Leave it unchecked if there is no header row identifying the column contents.

Barcode Handling

• Starting Item Barcode. Ensure this is set to an appropriate value for the next barcode to be assigned.

• Always Assign New Barcodes. Selected. Since Alexandria is creating copies and assigning the barcodes, always assign new barcodes.

• Remove Leading Alpha Characters. This option is not used in this case and should be left unchecked.

Title Options

• Default Title Policy / Use Call Number Policy Mapping. Select the most appropriate item item policy for your library. Either select the default policy for any new titles, or, select to let the system determine these based on call number, if Policy Mapping has been configured AND your file contains the call number.

• Replace MARC Records on Title Match. This option is not used in this case and should be left unchecked.

Copy Options

• Site. If you are part of a centralized-catalog you will want to ensure that this is set to site you are importing from.

• Only Import Copies with Site Code. This is a special option generally only used for data conversions where you are splitting a centralized-catalog into separate databases. Leave this unchecked.

• Copy Location. Include the location for ALL items included in the import, if applicable.

• Only Import Copies with This Copy Location. This is a special option generally only used for data conversions where you are splitting a catalog into separate databases. Leave this unchecked.

• Copy Shelving. Include the shelving for ALL items included in the import, if applicable.

• Funding Source. Include the funding source for ALL items included in the import, if applicable.
  
  
• Vendor. Include the vendor, supplier, or donator for ALL items included in the import, if applicable.

• Policy / Use Call Number Policy Mapping. Select the most appropriate item policy for your library. Either select the default policy for any new copies, or, choose to let the system determine these based on call number, if Policy Mapping has been configured AND your file contains the call number.

• Set New Copies as ‘In Processing. In this case you would typically leave this option unchecked since you are not waiting for the items to arrive - they are ready to circulate as soon as you finish adding them!
  
  

Option 3 - Upload MARC Records

Obtain MARC records from an online source, such as OCLC. Download these as MARC or MicroLIF files and import them into Alexandria using the Add or Update Titles and Copies Import option and selecting Always add at least one copy. When using this option you will want to run a Copy Labels report following the import to generate the necessary labels to affix to the physical items. Use the ‘Copies Added’ selection to easily limit the report to creating labels only for items added today!

Supported Data Formats

• MARC

• MicroLIF

Import Settings

• Add or Update Titles and Copies. Selected. Each record in the import file contains title information only. You will want Alexandria to create a new title for the information in each record, and also add or create a copy to go along with it.

• Always add at least one Copy. Selected. See note above.

• Title Update Matching. ISBN or LCCN. ISBNs are reliable identifiers for title match purposes and should be included in quality MARC records obtained from reputable sources, such as OCLC.

Before Importing

• Skip First Record if Field Mapping. This setting is used to skip the header row in a tab delimited import file. It should be left unchecked in this case.

Barcode Handling

• Starting Item Barcode. Ensure this is set to an appropriate value for the next barcode to be assigned.

• Always Assign New Barcodes. Selected. Since Alexandria is creating copies and assigning the barcodes, always assign new barcodes.

• Remove Leading Alpha Characters. This option is not used in this case and should be left unchecked.

Title Options

• Default Title Policy / Use Call Number Policy Mapping. Select the most appropriate item policy for your library. Either select the default policy for any new titles, or, select to let the system determine these based on call number, if this has been configured AND your file contains the call number.

• Replace MARC Records on Title Match. This option is not used in this case and should be left unchecked.

Copy Options

• Site. If you are part of a centralized-catalog you will want to ensure that this is set to site you are importing from.

• Only Import Copies with Site Code. This is a special option generally only used for data conversions where you are splitting a centralized-catalog into separate databases. Leave this unchecked.

• Copy Location. Include the location for ALL items included in the import, if applicable.

• Only Import Copies with This Copy Location. This is a special option generally only used for data conversions where you are splitting a catalog into separate databases. Leave this unchecked.

• Copy Shelving. Include the shelving for ALL items included in the import, if applicable.

• Funding Source. Include the funding source for ALL items included in the import, if applicable.

• Vendor. Include the vendor, supplier, or donator for ALL items included in the import, if applicable.

• Policy / Use Call Number Policy Mapping. Select the most appropriate item policy for your library. Either select the default policy for any new copies, or, choose to let the system determine these based on call number, if this has been configured AND your file contains the call number.

• Set New Copies as ‘In Processing’. In this case you would typically leave this option unchecked since you are not waiting for the items to arrive - they are ready to circulate as soon as you finish adding them!