[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] RE: Introduction - new installation

[Don McMorris]

Hi Michael:
There are tools and scripts to import bibliographic and item records
in bulk.  However, many ILS's tend to have a slightly different export
format, and as such the tools/script will need to be modified
slightly.  These are not well documented yet, but as more and more
people show an interest in migrating from an existing ILS to
Evergreen, this will start climbing the priority latter.

As far as patron import from delimited files... I don't know if this
exists yet[1].  However, I believe it should be relatively trivial to
make.

Right now, (I believe[1]) bulk importing is done as a "back-end"
process.  What I mean by this is you would use a tool or script from
an interactive shell on a server (instead of using something built in
to the staff client).  This is usually sufficient for an occasional
update (IE: one-time import for migration or the yearly load of
student info).

For importing small batches of records in a fairly frequent manner,
the backend process would probably be less than ideal.  As far as I
know[1], there is not an "end user" non-Z39.50 mechanism for importing
(such as an import wizard in the staff client).

I hope this helps answer some of your questions.  If you have any
more, please do not hesitate to contact the list again, or join us in
$OpenILS-Evergreen on the Freenode IRC network.

--Don

[1] Some of my information may be outdated, as I'm a "contributor" for
the time being and not a developer.  Please look for subsequent
messages of this thread  in case some of the information I've stated
in this message is out of date or otherwise incorrect.

On 4/12/07, Mitchell, Michael <Michael.Mitchell at brazosport.edu> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
>         I'm new to the list too. We're soon to be ILS merger orphans and
> I'm trying to see what else is out there. I've been a big open-source
> fan for years but have little or no real programming skills.
>         I'm not seeing what I need to see with Evergreen as far as bulk
> importing of MARC records and patron records though. I can export our
> data from our present system with no problem but can Evergreen use it?
> The 80K bib records would be in one MARC format file and 15K user
> records in a delimited text file. I'd hate to try to run 80K Z39.50
> searches! Plus, I do ongoing cataloging which is saved to multiple
> record files for import into our current ILS. This procedure would need
> to stay the same. We also have to load a new delimited file of students
> every semester so that's not a one-time migration thing either.
>         I expect I too am missing some basics about Evergreen here and
> that Don was just answering a specific question about scanning ISBNs.
>
> Michael Mitchell
> Technical Services Librarian
> Brazosport College
> Lake Jackson, TX
> michael.mitchell at brazosport.edu
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:  "Don McMorris" <don.mcmorris at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Introduction - new installation
> To: ka1vgm at levektronix.com,
>         open-ils-general at list.georgialibraries.org,
>         open-ils-dev at list.georgialibraries.org
> Message-ID:
>         <f2b02f1e0704111645h6e226e3gc625293fa904ddc1 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Hey Larry:
>
> Jason mentions Z39.50 for importing bibliographic records.  This is
> pretty close to being as simple as scanning an ISBN and importing it.
> <...>
> This is a workflow your cataloging staff may use.  Generally speaking,
> it probably would be less than ideal to migrate from an existing ILS
> using this method (unless you have a very small collection).  In these
> cases, you will need to find a way to export your bib/holding database
> from your existing ILS into Evergreen.  Depending on how compliant your
> ILS is to the MARC standard, this could be very easy or it could require
> a little bit of work. <...>
>
>