[LM_NET] HIT: "Manually" importing MARC records from LOC using browser.

["Hastings, Jeff" <HASTINGJ@HOWELLSCHOOLS.COM>]

Colleagues,

I'm happy to report that LM_NET continues to rule when it comes to seeking quick 
and helpful answers from a variety of creative, intelligent perspectives. 
        
I received a number of different responses, all valid, each a bit different, and 
all more thorough than I'd have any right to expect. Thanks all.

First of all, let me confess that I seem to have reached that 'certain age' when a 
couple months of summer break leaves me fumbling and bumbling in September asking 
myself things like 'now, what was the password I use for x?' and 'what was that 
trick I used to employ for doing y?' I think September senility may have played 
into this particular glitcheroo.

So, thanks for helping me blow the dust out of my '61 carburetor.

Let me also add that a few of my difficulties are due to the idiosyncracies of both 
my library automation system (Winnebago spectrum w/no add-ons) and my means of 
accessing the net when on it (wireless, through a proxy that requires constant 
reauthentication). Keep those things in mind as I tell you what I've chosen to do:

I found that, for my situation, the Opera browser (version 9.23) was, as suggested 
by an LM_NETter, indeed the easiest web browser to employ to save MARC records as 
text files. 

Thanks for all your help and suggestions. They included:

I use Opera and it works great

--Thanks to Teresa Sterchi
______________________________________________________

Jeff, You've probably heard from other people by now but I thought I'd ask, 
are you using,
the yellow box at the bottom of the screen to select the MARC format an THEN 
clicking the Save button and saving as a txt file? It will look like a 
string of codes across the top of the page. 
[Note from Jeff: Yeah, that's what I've always done, but certain browsers
seem to have changed in ways that've made it more difficult]


Thanks to Sandra Carswell, Librarian


Detailed procedure suggestions:

Library of Congress http://catalog.loc.gov 
● Click: Basic Search
● Type in search information and click on Title, Author or ISBN
● Click: Begin Search or press Enter
● Click on highlighted Title
● Under record, by Select Download Format, choose MARC (non-
Unicode/MARC-8)
● Click: Press to SAVE or PRINT
● Under File (top left corner) click on Save as
● Choose folder you want it saved in, change file name and choose
Text
file in Save as type
● Use the back arrow key: scroll to top of page and click on New
Search
● Import to automation system.
Notice Basic Search Tips at bottom of page
Additional sites:
http://www.

***************************************

--Thanks to Rebecca Hoffman

I think if you go to the "MARC Tags" tab, then save the page
as txt, then edit off all the html and cgi cruft from the top and
bottom, you're left with a pretty clean MARC record. I don't have access
to a cataloging utility in my current job, so I can't test the results.
But I used to do this a lot and it looks like it would work.

Hope that helps.

---Bob.

/************************************************/
THANKS TO Bob Hassett 

Here's a neat alternative way to save and import records:
I don't know if this will work for you, but this is what I do:

To download from LOC into Sagebrush Spectrum (it may not work for other
catalogs):
1. click on "guided search" 
2. Fill in search terms and click "begin search"
3. If more than one title comes up, click on correct title 
4. On the title page, go to the bottom of the screen. At "Select
Download Format" select "MARC (non-Unicode/MARC-8)", then click on
"Press to SAVE or PRINT." You'll see what looks like a long string of
numbers and/or letters 
5. Press "ctrl-A" then "ctrl-C"
6. Open Notepad
7. Paste "ctrl-v" into notepad
8. You can continue to add records into this open file on Notepad 
9. Save the Notepad file to a floppy (or CD) - name the file
microlif.001 
10. You can then import that file to Spectrum using "materials - import"


I also download records from National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped: http://www.loc.gov/nls/ (click on "search the
catalog", then click on "voyager interface"), but keep in mind we
receive many of our books from this source.

You can also use Sunlink (Florida schools)
http://sunlink.brodart.com/search/fl/default.html but you have to cut
and paste from that site (which doesn't always work), or just print the
info and type it in by hand. 


thanks to Elizabeth Hart
________________________________

Look in the middle of the screen for LOC is a window
to save items. You must change TEXT (brief) to one of
the MARC selections. Then click save. That should do
it for you. 
[Note from J. Hastings re above:] It SHOULD, but in 
my tests, it actually depended on the browser: New versions of IE
lacking file drop-down menus made it difficult, Firefox needed 
to be instructed how to handle the file... Opera was the simplest; 
just open the record as MARC Unicode and save as text file using the
FILE drop down menu.


Thanks to Barb Fritz

_____________________________

More favorite services from which to import MARC records...

We import records from Access PA, have you tried that? Our circ system is Mandarin 
3 though and it has an import option. In Access PA you can save as a MARC records. 
I have more specific directions if you need it. Mary
 
Thanks to Mary P. Sundberg, MLS

______________________________

Here's my original query:

Colleagues,


First of all, let me wish everyone a happy fall. May this school year be
your best ever.


As someone not yet blessed with a spiffy z39.50 'seek-and-steal' MARC
utility, I've often leaned on the Library of Congress for MARC records
which I'd simply call up in full record using Internet Explorer and
then, using the IE File/Save As drop down menu, display and save as a
TEXT file for importing into our current library automation suite,
Winnebago Spectrum. Once imported, I'd customize them to meet the needs
of our 'tweeners.


I've not yet found a way to do this little hack in Firefox (which'd be
great, By the way) and this fall, perhaps due to IE 'upgrades,' (let's
see: we're 7.0.5 ish right now) it no longer seems to work in Internet
Explorer either.


SO:


I'd be happy to hear from anyone who knows how to import MARC records
from the Library of Congress using a current web browser. Am I just
doing something wrong? Maybe I'm just cob-webby after the summer break.


OR: 


I'd be more than happy to hear from someone who uses some sort of open
source or otherwise free utility to import MARC records.


Thanks again to ALL who read and all who responded.  

  Jeffrey Hastings,
  School Library Media Specialist
  Highlander Way Middle School 

 
        
        


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