American Military Museum Library Book Inventory Import

Importing Spreadsheet inventory into Koha Integrated Library System
The purpose of this document is to provide an untrained individual the capability to import a spreadsheet of inventory information into the American Military Museum Koha Integrated Library System (ILS).

The reason this process is necessary is because volunteers who easily trained on inputing specific information in spreadsheets can be intimidated by the rapid entry framework of Koha. Initially, the process was developed to migrate the American Military Museum Library from the LibraryThing system to the Koha system. It was expanded to accommodate a large cataloging project which required over 7500 books to be barcoded and placed into the ILS. The volume of people who needed to be trained required a simplified interface, which led the librarians to pick a spreadsheet based entry of the information.

The system is simple in concept. Create a spreadsheet, enter the title, last name of the first author, barcode number, and box or shelf assignment of each book. Then process the spreadsheet by adding additional repetitive information, such as building location, branch, Koha item type etc.. Then process the document into an MARC21 file for importing into the Koha ILS.

This process places the information into the catalog and also adds the book to the item inventory.

Preparation
Maintain raw inventory spreadsheets in the C:\Users\tanklandlibrary\Google Drive\Library Documents\Data Files\Inventory directory in case the imports have to be done again or in a disaster recovery situation, we will be able to recreate the inventory from scratch.

The inventory input format is in .xls format, which is required for the MarcEdit process. The process must gather the following minimum information: An example of our input spreadsheet:
 * 1) Title
 * 2) Last name of the first author. (Alternatively, the editor or the Corporate entity)
 * 3) Barcode number (in TEXT format)
 * 4) Box or Shelf Number

Save the spreadsheet as Bulk Import Spreadsheet YYYY MM DD.xls. Ensure the file type is .xls.

Keep the current format of .xls.

Prepare the spreadsheet for conversion to MARC21 file.
The first step is to convert the existing headers to the appropriate MARC21 fields. The following table provides the appropriate header for each area. Please note, we purposely leave off significant amounts of data such as the indicators because when the inventory information is cataloged, it will be populated by either the Z39.50 lookup client or it will be supplied by the technical services librarians doing the cataloging.

The holding data fields are located at: http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Holdings_data_fields_%289xx%29

The 952 field is specifically used for Koha for importing information in bulk imports. The AMM Library chooses to use the 952$z Public Note for shelf or box location in order to avoid the limited selection of shelving control numbers and types available in Koha. It's also just plain old fashion easier at this point to use it. <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The following fields are then populated into the spreadsheet based on where the information was placed. The access to the data tables is available from the staff client in the Home>Administration screen.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Below is a spreadsheet ready for conversion to MARC21.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Authorized values for ccode (as per 2014 01 03)

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Authorized values for items <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Authorized values for branch (as per 2014 01 03) <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Authorized values for classification sources (as per 2014 01 03) <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Authorized Location codes (as per 2014 01 03) <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Save the spreadsheet and close OpenOffice Calc.

Convert spreadsheet into MARC21 staging file
Open MarcEdit 5.9

Select Delimited Text Translator icon

Press Next

Click on Input File folder icon

Select file from C:\Users\tanklandlibrary\Google Drive\Library Documents\Data Files\Inventory directory. If you do not see the file, change the file type to *.xls

If you do not see the file, change the file type to *.xls

Select the destination file. For our purposes, use the same directory and name with the .mrk file extention.

Insert the sheet name “Sheet1$”

Press Next

Press Autogenerate

If the field do not generate correctly, map the files to each argument.

IMPORTANT: Insure all the fields with the same number (i.e. 952$p 952$z …) are selected. Right click and “Join” them together. You will see a “*” in front of the fields that are joined.

Press Finish

Open Mark Tools

Select the input (Bulk Import Spreadsheet 2014 01 03.mrk) nd output files (Bulk Import Spreadsheet 2014 01 03.mrc) files.

Select MarcMaker

Press Execute

Verify the correct number of records were generated. There should be the same number of records as the number of rows in your spreadsheet. If they are different, immediately contact the Technical Services librarian.

Close the window.

Congratulations, you have converted a spreadsheet into a MARC21 file.

Import the your data into Koha ILS
This is the process to import a MARC21 formatted file into Koha. Please be advised this can be error prone. Before starting, backup your Koha Database. Refer to Daily - Backup - Library System 2014 01 02 for the specific procedure or the wiki at http://tankland-library.wikia.com/wiki/American_Miltary_Musuem_Library_-_Daily_-_Procedure_-_Koha_ILS_backup

Log into the Staff Client at http://library:8080

Use your librarian login and password. If you have forgotten your login, refer to Staff Accounts.osd.

Click on More > Tools

Click on Stage MARC Records for Import

Click on Browse  button next to  Select the file to stage

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Select the file to import. Ensure it has a .mrc extension.

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Press Upload file button

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Leave the default options as are.

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Press Stage for import button.

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Insure the same number of records are in the import area.

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Press Manage staged records

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Press Import this batch into the catalog.

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">This will provide import records. Note any problems, such as duplicate barcodes and repair them.

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Note: The records are not immediately available, it is necessary to rebuild the Zebra index in order for this to be made available. The system schedules a run once an hour, but you can run the Zebra rebuild by following Periodic – Information Technology – Zebra Index Rebuild process.

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Verify your records are correct

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Select Circulation > Search the Catalog

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Type in a title and press Submit.

<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal">Congratulations, you have successfully imported your data.