Importing Records

You can import records into your library’s catalog instead of creating your own new records. You might import records when you buy records to put into your database. You can also import records that you export from other Horizon databases. If you import linked bibliographic (bib) records using multiple workstations, each workstation must have a unique Horizon user ID in order to handle the linked bibs properly. (For more information, see Working with Linked Bib Records.)

If you import brief bib records that contain embedded item information, your system administrator can set your import source parameters so that Horizon knows whether to create new item records for just new bibs or for both new or matched bibs. This lets you import embedded item information without overlaying an existing bib record.

When you import records, you specify these things:

The import file. This is the computer file containing the data that you want to import.
The import source. This is the profile that determines how Horizon handles records during the import process.
Overlay options. These are the parameters you specify for replacing records in your database with those you are importing.
Status (optional). The status options let you specify the status of the new and overlaid records.
Staff Only (optional). This can specify whether the new records are flagged as staff only.
Selection (optional). This can identify the selection list of the purchase recommendation.
Owner (optional). This specifies who can change the record once it is imported. If you do not specify an owner, Horizon assigns the default owner from the import source.
Import schedule (optional). This can tell Horizon the date and time that you want to begin importing.

If you have several dozen MARC indexes on your system, you may want to set up Horizon to defer some of the indexing tasks when you import MARC records. This can help speed up the indexing process. (For instructions, see “Understanding Deferred Indexing” in the Cataloging Setup Guide.)

This section explains these topics:

 


© 1998-2017 Sirsi Corporation