Week 4: Resource Management #2

Videos

Local Search Indexes and External Search Resources (5 min)
Configuring External Search (5 min)
Importing Bibliographic, Inventory and Order Records in Batch (9 min)
Import Profiles (9 min)
Cataloging Activities in the Network Zone, Part 2: Import Profiles (5 min)

Note about this week’s training

Part of the exercises below involves working with an MRC file. Ex Libris will demo this part during the Q/A session for staff who do not have MarcEdit available.

Training Exercises

Using your sandbox, sign in as AlmaUser01. For these exercises, you may choose to either use the initial prompt to complete the activity on your own, or if you prefer, follow the step-by-step instructions.

Exercise 1: Import a Record from an External Source, add a local field to the bib, add holdings record and item

Go to Resources > Cataloging > Search External Resources
From the Search Catalog menu, select the Library of Congress profile
Search for "climate change" or a search term of your choice
Choose a record; click Import
While in the record, go to Edit> Add Local Extension
Include a 590 field, with the indicator 1 and a note (for example: Copy autographed by author). Click Save
Click the Add Holdings (Ctrl+Alt+H) (note: you can use the Form Editor (Ctrl+F) to choose the library/location from dropdowns)
Click on Add Item (Alt+I)
Fill out the required parts of the form.
Click Save Record

Exercise 2: Copy catalog from an External Source, overlay/merge

Using Physical Titles search, search for a record of your choice.
Click Edit Record to open the record in MD Editor. If you are using a sandbox environment that has Network Zone, open a record that exists in the Institution Zone.
In the MD Editor, under Tools menu, click Search External Resources then choose Library of Congress in Search Cataloging Profile to search for this record in Library of Congress. There are 3 options available:

Copy & Overlay - overlay the existing record with the imported record (don't retain anything)
You would use this if you create brief records at the time of ordering and do full cataloging when the item is in hand.
Copy & Merge - merge the 2 records into 1 (using merge rules)
Merge method set for MD editor in Alma Configuration > Resources >Other Settings and in the external search profile for the external search profile
Merge Preview: allows you to preview what the merged record looks like
Import record
Use the Form Editor (Edit >> Open Form Editor or Ctrl+F) to edit fixed fields
To use controlled vocabulary (example: 041$$a) put cursor in the field, backspace and select option.
To use drop-downs (example: 260 $$a or 260 $$b) type the first three letters, choose option
To use the authority lookup tool, type at least three characters of the author’s name or subject heading in the record and press the F3 key on your keyboard to display a list of suggestions.
Note: Alerts are hard-coded; mandatory alerts can be added

Exercise 3: Create an import profile that imports bibs and items, then use that import profile to import records into Alma

For this exercise, sign in as Catalog Administrator (username: CatAdmin).

Go to

Resources > Import > Manage Import Profiles

Click

Add New Profile, choose Profile Type: Repository, click Next

On the

Import Profile Details screen:

Enter required Information: Profile Name, Originating system
Physical source format: To import a .mrc file, choose "Binary”
Go through the Profile Creation steps. For this exercise, you can use the default options. In the future, you can make changes such as selecting a normalization rule you have created for batch updating certain type of data, choose a different match and merge method, map inventory information, etc. Detailed descriptions of steps and options can be found here: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/040Resource_Management/060Record_Import/020Managing_Import_Profiles

After the profile is created, to import records, go to

Resources > Import > Import, or Resources > Import > Manage Import Profiles.

Right click on the profile and click Run, Select File to run. A sample file is attached but feel free to use your own. (NOTE: This file may not download if you do not have a MARC editor installed on your computer.)