[Koha] Please Clarify My Understanding of Data Upgrade Process

[baljkas at mb.sympatico.ca]

Saturday, August 16, 2003     20:49 CDT

Hi, Robert,

I can't really answer points 1 through 5 of what you wrote, but you do have
a way of transforming the old data into MARC records.

Assuming the old data can be exported with field delimiters, you can use
the MARCEdit tool I referenced in earlier messages from the MARC Tools page
at Library of Congress to bulk convert the records. You'll also need the
MARCMaker.

Once again, that address:

    URL <http://www.loc.gov/marc/marctools.html>

If you're new to MARC, you should take a look at the MARC documentation
available (one level up, just delete the /marctools.html part).

*Inevitably* someone'll have to tweak the data in the end, but MARCEdit
should be able to convert most of it smoothly. Let the list now how things
work out.

If you have any questions about mapping of the data into a MARC structure
(e.g. Main Entry to 100, 110. etc.), write me back and I'll be glad to try
to help.

Cheers,
Steven F. Baljkas
library tech at large
Koha neophyte
Winnipeg, MB  CANADA

original message follows===========================================
Robert Maynord <maynord at terracom.net> wrote:
>Dear Koha Folks:
>
>Our Library is preparing for the upgrade from 1.2.3 to 2.0.  I have 
>2.0-pre installed on a separate machine, with koha 2.0-pre up and 
>running - no data.  Our 1.2.3 machine is still operative, but the Z3950 
>tool has stopped working.  Our data is safe, and I have made a backup
>of it using the mysql tool.  My hope is to transfer the data from the
>1.2.3 machine to the new koha 2.0 machine.  However, I understand that
>the two formats are not the same, 2.0 using the MARC record format. So 
>far, I have the following understanding/misunderstanding of the upgrade
>process---
>
[snip]
>6) If I had a way of converting the old data to MARC format, I could 
>import into 2.0 by using bulkmarkimport.pl
>
>I am sure there is much I am missing here.  Any clarification would be 
>most helpful, as I have the task of putting our Koha in good shape for 
>the school  librarian to use.	So far, I have not yet figured out a 
>clear way to proceed...
>
>Thanks Much!
>
>Robert Maynord