TECH: Marcive experience (and Athena)

[Fmwill@AOL.COM]

I have just become librarian here toward the end of the Marcive process,
retrospective conversion to automate the library, (with Athena as the program
we hope to use).  The sample has come back;  the former librarian commented
on it in late June; all I need do is accept the sample and 6,444 records will
arrive, with 1823 no-hits still being worked on.

The excellent former librarian found a couple of large errors (which have
been corrected Marcive assures me) but mainly  problems with copies that
weren't there, extra supplements that weren't on the shelf, little but
expensive stuff.  Brother Marvin, an experienced cataloger who has been here
a year and a half assisting with the process, isn't sure what to do.  We
could get the corrected sample back to review;  my feeling is that looking at
the sample again would just drag out the process longer without telling us
much.

There is the continuing problem of the "no hits," inexact matches and so on.
  I think we will end up doing a lot of hand correction, but I think it will
be much easier to learn Athena when it is here and in real use.

Any thoughts from those who've already been here?  Questions I should be
considering?

Please send to the CAIS address if possible;  I post with aol because
apparently people at cais have been spamming.

TIA
 Faith Williams, librarian at St. Anselm's Abbey School, 4501 S. Dakota Ave.,
NW, Wash. DC 20017-2795  Tel 202-269-2362   Faithw@cais.com or fmwill@aol.com