[Koha] Biblio records as book set "container" records - hierarchical groupings

[Steven F. Baljkas]

Wednesday, July 14, 2004     01:15 CDT   -- Happy Bastille Day to our French
Koha-ites!

Hi, Hans,

Continuing the detailed response to your message on list-serv for this
penultimate part ...

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hans Henderson" <hans at shrewsbury.ac.th>
To: "Koha mailing list" <koha at lists.katipo.co.nz>
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 4:42 AM
Subject: re: [Koha] Biblio records as book set "container" records -
hierarchical groupings


> OK, to continue back on-list with this last bit:
>
> > Another way to handle it, with analytics, would be to have brief
> but complete records for all the 'elements' of the set, and a
> 'master' record that listed (say in a 505 and with 700s) all the
> elements that make up the set.
>
> So a "dummy" Biblio record that doesn't point to a specific resource,
> but provides links to all the various other "real" Biblios that are
> related.

I wouldn't use the term "dummy" in this case (mostly because I tend to use
that term when referring to a mock-up of a record, what others might call a
template for a record - but again, that's probably just because that's the
way I was taught).

It wouldn't exactly be a 'dummy' in the sense I think you meant either.

What it would be is a valid record that actually describes a set of items.

One of the core functions of the Leader is to designate what kind of record
one is dealing with. For people who use MARC for collections that might
include archival materials (instead of RAMP or in addition to it), they are
probably more use to using Leader Position 07 codes the rest of us never
have occasion to use: things like c = Collection, or d = Subcollection. You
would be able to use those codes legitimately in outlining the 'master'
record that would list, albeit it briefly, the component parts. You could
also legitimately -- if you boxed the whole group of items at least -- then
use the a = Monographic component part code in the records for the
individual items.

If you choose, you could ignore these minutiae, and simply code the Leader
as for a regular monographic item (position 7 = m) and then rely on the rest
of the records to clarify the relationships of the parts.

The parts would be what you would assign barcodes to, BTW, and not
necessarily the overarching 'master' record (you could give it a barcode,
too, but I wouldn't recommend it as it tends to confuse who has what over
time unless you are very scrupulous about check-in procedures); the parts
are what tend to get lost, after all, not the whole, so you definitely want
to know who has each little bit.

> ... Would these be actual "links" in the www sense, so a user
> could click to pull up the Biblio listing, e.g. make a reservation
> and then navigate back to the parent record, click to open the next
> Biblio they wanted to reserve, etc?

My understanding is that we don't have live 'hyperlink' records. Is that
correct? Paul? Stephen? Pate? anyone?
(If this doesn't make sense to anyone, visit the Library of Congress
catalogue which (still, I believe) is Voyager: when you do a search the
various parts of the individual record results are 'hyperlinked',
essentially performing an instant search on author, if you click on author,
or series, or a subject term. A very handy feature.)

> If the display just provided a text listing showing what related
> resources were available, then they'd have to launch a separate
> search for each one, bit of a PITA. . .

Although not as much as a card catalogue, or God forbid, COM catalogue ;-)

> The big question remains (addressed to whoever can answer, not Steven
> specifically - will coding these relationships in the MARC records
> prior to import help Koha tie the various Biblioitem records together
> to their common "master" Biblios? Is there any field content
> "matching" going on during the import?
>
> Or will they just all come in as separate Biblios?

My understanding, for whatever that's worth (and Chris, I apologise in
advance if I misunderstood or am misremembering what you so diligently and
patiently delineated for me almost a year ago now), is that they are *all
separate Biblioitems when we import them as MARC records.* I hope that I
understood/remembered that right (BTW this is good from the MARC-perspective
on things, 'cause the Biblio level causes some problems from a strict
application of MARC coding principles which require that the bibliographic
record be integral and not fractured with part of the data shuffled to
another 'level').

> And if the latter, is there a way to tie them together after the
> import?

If the records are coded correctly, whether you do it simply with 500 notes
and traced series (as I would recommend) or more complicatedly with
Collections, Subcollections, etc. in the Leader and/or 76x and 77x tags, the
relationships will be intact however Koha deals with them. (I think the real
beauty of the redundant 500 shows here most clearly, Hans, as no matter what
Koha or another ILS might do -- remember, people, we are in a world that
shares records! -- the 500 is usually there and is 'safe' across different
ILS.)
> Thanks in advance. . .
>
> Hans

Hope some of this has actually been helpful, Hans.

Looking forward to hearing back from the true cognoscenti on the hyperlink
and MARC-Biblio::Biblioitem relationship questions.

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


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