2018 Conference and Developers Day

Developers Day

Alma can perform batch changes in Holdings records, but there is no batch job to update them with unique data in each field.  This was becoming a critical problem, because we record journal shelf location in Holdings records, there have been lots of moves lately, but the moves are handled by library aides, not staff who are able to update Alma on the spot. A Developers' Network post (https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/blog/Using-Alma-BIB-API-in-order-to-retrieve-and-update-call-numbers) was our inspiration, but we needed a more flexible solution. The Systems team developed a utility which starts from an Excel change file and updates each Holdings record listed in the file with unique content -- for example, the shelf location of that title.  The utility works on almost any standard MARC field and subfield in a Holdings record and has been a big help.  The algorithm, basic functionality, and included error handling will be described.

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