Hello, all, I hope somebody can give me some good advice. I have been asked to put the catalog for a fairly small university department collection online, and Koha seems to be the perfect solution. I've got it installed without much problem, but I'm not sure what the best method is for importing the records. The problem is that they are in an idiosyncratic format in spreadsheet form, not in MARC. It appears that the only format in which Koha (v1.2.3) accepts batch files is MARC. I'm a Perl hacker, and I know about MARC::Record, etc., so I can create MARC records if necessary. BUT here's the problem: whoever catalogued these books did not see fit to record any ISBNs! And Koha apparently rejects any records without ISBNs, according to my tests (though it's hard to know when the error message is "Error: Problem with...<title>"). So, short of typing all the information in, can you suggest a method for getting these records into the database? I assume that the MySQL tables are sufficently complex that I don't want to go mucking about with them. Perhaps there is a Z39.50 solution for getting the ISBNs? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Gregory Garretson Boston University
Thursday, April 22, 2004 17:35 CDT Hi, Gregory,
I have been asked to put the catalog for a fairly small university department collection online, and Koha seems to be the perfect solution.
Depending on how small 'small' is and the nature of the collection (newer vs. older works, monographs vs. serials or other formats, North American vs. other), you might have less frustration just using the database you have now as a search list and doing it manually. Read on before opting for that though ...
I've got it installed without much problem, but I'm not sure what the best method is for importing the records. The problem is that they are in an idiosyncratic format in spreadsheet form, not in MARC. It appears that the only format in which Koha (v1.2.3) accepts batch files is MARC.
Is there a reason you are not using the full-MARC compliant 2.0? I thought that it could accept records that were missing even the ISBN?!
I'm a Perl hacker, and I know about MARC::Record, etc., so I can create MARC records if necessary.
That might be wise.
BUT here's the problem: whoever catalogued these books did not see fit to record any ISBNs! And Koha apparently rejects any records without ISBNs, according to my tests (though it's hard to know when the error message is "Error: Problem with...<title>"). So, short of typing all the information in, can you suggest a method for getting these records into the database? I assume that the MySQL tables are sufficently complex that I don't want to go mucking about with them. Perhaps there is a Z39.50 solution for getting the ISBNs? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
There was a utility offered (I still have the .gz zipped file but have somehow lost the note that it came with from its programmer: sorry, to whoever you are out there) that would do a z39.50 search for records using data from a pre-existing database. You would probably have more luck checking the archives to find it (certainly more luck than I am having checking my personal archives) or perhaps someone else on the listserv will remember what I am talking about. Otherwise, you might just be able to do quick searches -- manual might even work well enough if there are not too many items -- just to retrieve ISBNs and adjust your spreadsheet to have a column for that info. Of course, I am assuming that there are no ISBNs evident on the works themselves, 'cause that would be the easiest way to get them. But if you are right, Gregory, and Koha rejects items without ISBNs, what are we supposed to do when items really do not have them (i.e. pre-date ISBNs or just were never submitted to their publisher's national agency)? I suppose at worst one would have to make up fake ISBNs?! Steven F. Baljkas library tech at large Koha neophyte Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.663 / Virus Database: 426 - Release Date: 20/04/2004
On Thu 22 Apr, Steven F. Baljkas wrote:
But if you are right, Gregory, and Koha rejects items without ISBNs, what are we supposed to do when items really do not have them (i.e. pre-date ISBNs or just were never submitted to their publisher's national agency)? I suppose at worst one would have to make up fake ISBNs?!
2.20 certainly seems to accept items without isdns. I am not a librarian and my knowledge of marc is virtually nil. As I have said I am starting completely from scratch in putting data into Koha: we have no electronic records of any sort. Yesterday I entered into the "new biblio" page under title "A treatise on Deeds", year 1906 and author Norton. The z3950 servers found me dozens of records, none, so far as I could see, containing anything like Norton on Deeds (a very well known legal text book), although there were so many that I may have missed the relevant one, but when I changed the author to "Norton, Robert", the LoC & the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies produced the relevant result. That contains no ISDN but Koha seems quite happy with it. (I hope to start further cataloguing next week using a Psion netBook and WiFi. I suspect a large proportion of books will have no ISDNs). Roger -- Roger Horne 11 New Square, Lincoln's Inn, London WC2A 3QB, UK roger@hrothgar.co.uk http://www.hrothgar.co.uk/
Thanks, Steven, for your reply. Let me respond to your comments: Steven F. Baljkas wrote:
Depending on how small 'small' is and the nature of the collection (newer vs. older works, monographs vs. serials or other formats, North American vs. other), you might have less frustration just using the database you have now as a search list and doing it manually. Read on before opting for that though ...
Actually, it's a few thousand volumes (mostly books), so while it may be feasible to do it manually, I don't relish the thought. Since I have most of the catalog information in digital form, it seems a shame not to be able to use it.
Is there a reason you are not using the full-MARC compliant 2.0? I thought that it could accept records that were missing even the ISBN?!
Only that I downloaded it before 2.0 was officially released. I'll gladly update if it's clear it will help.
There was a utility offered (I still have the .gz zipped file but have somehow lost the note that it came with from its programmer: sorry, to whoever you are out there) that would do a z39.50 search for records using data from a pre-existing database. You would probably have more luck checking the archives to find it (certainly more luck than I am having checking my personal archives) or perhaps someone else on the listserv will remember what I am talking about.
That sounds very useful, so I hope someone can point me to it. I'll keep looking, meanwhile.
But if you are right, Gregory, and Koha rejects items without ISBNs, what are we supposed to do when items really do not have them (i.e. pre-date ISBNs or just were never submitted to their publisher's national agency)? I suppose at worst one would have to make up fake ISBNs?!
Yes, it seems unlikely that Koha would have an absolute restriction on importing records without ISBN/ISSN. The MARC import function is not documented, but if someone who knows how it works could tell me something about what the requirements are on incoming MARC records, that would be very helpful. Thanks again, Gregory Garretson
Hi, I just installed Koha for a very small library, but I have some performance problem with it. I suppose that Perl is for something there, so I wonder if i can use mod_perl or FastCGI? It is possible? Somebody try? -- Bruno Marmol. Ingénieur à la Direction Information Scientifique et de la communication Email: Bruno.Marmol@Inrialpes.Fr - Tel: 04 76 61 53 04 - Fax: 04 76 61 52 52 Inria Rhône Alpes. ZIRST - 655 Av de l'Europe. - Montbonnot St Martin 38334 St Ismier Cedex - France
On 2004-04-23 16:51:24 +0100 Bruno Marmol <Bruno.Marmol@inrialpes.fr> wrote:
I suppose that Perl is for something there, so I wonder if i can use mod_perl or FastCGI? It is possible?
I have not tried, but as a first step I would try CGI::SpeedyCGI (less hacking required). You will probably find that you need to audit the code for uninitialised variables. That's a lot of work, but I would really appreciate it. -- MJR/slef My Opinion Only and possibly not of any group I know. Please http://remember.to/edit_messages on lists to be sure I read http://mjr.towers.org.uk/ gopher://g.towers.org.uk/ slef@jabber.at Creative copyleft computing services via http://www.ttllp.co.uk/
participants (5)
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Bruno Marmol -
Gregory Garretson -
MJ Ray -
Roger Horne -
Steven F. Baljkas