[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Bar Code Readers, ISBN, and Amazon

[G. T. Stresen-Reuter]

On Mar 14, 2012, at 12:58 PM, Hardy, Elaine wrote:

> Ted,
> 
> The Z39.50 gateway is a client–server protocol for searching and
> retrieving information (http://www.loc.gov/z3950/gateway.html#about) and,
> as Ben says, generally involves MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging)
> formatted records entered according to cataloging standards
> (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2nd ed or AACR2). More information on
> the MARC format can be found at http://www.loc.gov/marc/ . You can also
> find a discussion of MARCXML and other standards on the Library of
> Congress (LC) website -- http://www.loc.gov/standards/
> 
> Amazon probably stores their data in ONIX, which is a publishing protocol
> for bibliographic data. While there are crosswalks between the two,
> differences make it a little difficult to do a complete machine-based
> transition. Another issue is the crosswalk between the ONIX data and
> AACR2. My understanding is this will be a little easier once we implement
> our new standard RDA (Resource Description and Access). My understand also
> is that ONIX is much more flexible in transcription of bibliographic data
> than is AACR2.

Ben and Elaine,

Excellent information. Thank you so much for the detailed explanations. I've discussed the issue (briefly) with our librarian and she's assured me that the (old) existing catalog can export data in MARC format so if I can resurrect the system, we can probably import the data into either Evergreen or Koha (have narrowed it down to these two and leaning toward Koha).

I spent a little time exploring bar code reading via webcams and smart phones to see if that would help with data entry for new items and found a few potential resources but nothing that screams: "This is the solution to your problems" so the hunt continues.

Thank you again for all your help and input.

Sincerely,

Ted Stresen-Reuter