You will be able to convert to Alexandria and import all of your items. To help assist in helping you standardize your barcodes, Alexandria then has a handy Duplicate Copy Barcodes report that you can run to identify all duplicates, and create a plan to weed or re-barcode these items over time. Alexandria is designed to help you achieve your goals of Barcode Standardization and won’t allow you to add duplicates manually, and never allows duplicate copies within the same site. In cases where duplicate barcodes exist, there are certain things that you won’t be able to do in Alexandria. Please review the following restrictions with your Sales representative before agreeing to move forward. Imports Duplicate barcodes can be added using only the following combinations of import settings + barcode handling: Add or Update Titles & Copies + Never Reassign Barcodes Add Titles & Copies + Never Reassign Barcodes Add or Update Titles + Always add at least one Copy (import file contains copy barcode) + Never Reassign Barcodes Add or Update Copies for Matching Titles + Never Reassign Barcodes
When updating existing copies via import using Title Update Matching: Copy Barcode, the site code MUST be included in the import file (or else records will fail to update even on matching barcode). Note for the “New Copy Status: In Processing” setting (in both Preferences > Items > Item Defaults and in Imports > Items > Options > Copy): when importing copies specifically, copies imported to other sites will always be Available. Circulation You can only circulate copies that belong to the site you are logged in to. Interlibrary loans and the In Transit patron are not supported. If you enter a copy barcode that exists at another site AND your site, it will always use the record that belongs to your site. Holds and reservations can only be placed on items if there is a copy that belongs to the current site. The Item Lookup window will not always work as you'd expect it to when attempting to find titles with copies at other sites.
Items Management Utilities For all copy and circulation utilities, you can only manipulate copies that belong to the site you are logged in to. The Site selection dropdown will be set only to the logged-in site and can not be changed for utilities in the Circulation and Copies category. Textbook Tracker Textbook Tracker currently does not support duplicate barcodes. Researcher Patrons can still search for titles across sites and even place holds and reservations on copies from other sites. However, the hold/reservation cannot be fulfilled at the patron's site, only at the copy's site. In order to have the best library experience with Alexandria, we recommend you create a plan to eliminate duplicate barcodes in your collection as soon as possible. For questions or assistance, contact Customer Support at 1.800.347.4942. |