1knerd.knitter
Our "MARC Import" system has been redesigned from the ground up. This should be welcome news to LibraryThing members migrating from library systems or who otherwise use the MARC standard for their books.
Short Version
Major changes include:
Check it out here https://www.librarything.com/newimport/marc
Go here to discuss other types of imports you may want: https://www.librarything.com/topic/375249
Longer Version
The MARC standard, invented by Henriette Avram in the 1960s, is the record format used by most libraries around the world.
The MARC Import is now laid out in five steps. All imports under the system are now tracked and available to view, and you can add an additional "Label" for your own organization.
When you upload, you get a page that shows you a parsed view of the MARC record, and options to map Other Call Number, Barcode, and Comments to specific field/subfield combinations from the record.
The button "Make an educated guess" tries to figure out what fields most likely map to Other Call Number and Barcode (it does not try to find Comments as those can vary greatly).
Once you’ve picked your mappings, you click "Next Step."
If your import is over a certain size, you will get to a page that tells you it is pre-processing your file and you will get an inbox message when the pre-processing is complete. If the file is under a certain size, you will be sent to the Questions page directly.
On the Questions page, similarly to the Goodreads import, you get a quick run-down on what LibraryThing found. After this, "Questions" allows you to customize just how your import will be handled, and what to do with books already in your LibraryThing catalog or books that are in the file more than once.
As with the new Goodreads Import, import tracking is much improved. Other improvements:
See the talk post https://www.librarything.com/topic/374440 for more information about the import improvements in general.
Short Version
Major changes include:
- Better speed and reliability
- Better tracking of progress
- You can see your progress and be alerted to the next step from anywhere on the site.
- Inspect imports by themselves in your catalog and edit history.
- Custom mapping of MARC fields, including Other Call Number, Barcode, and Comments. If you don't know, we have a button to have AI guess it for you.
Check it out here https://www.librarything.com/newimport/marc
Go here to discuss other types of imports you may want: https://www.librarything.com/topic/375249
Longer Version
The MARC standard, invented by Henriette Avram in the 1960s, is the record format used by most libraries around the world.
The MARC Import is now laid out in five steps. All imports under the system are now tracked and available to view, and you can add an additional "Label" for your own organization.
When you upload, you get a page that shows you a parsed view of the MARC record, and options to map Other Call Number, Barcode, and Comments to specific field/subfield combinations from the record.
The button "Make an educated guess" tries to figure out what fields most likely map to Other Call Number and Barcode (it does not try to find Comments as those can vary greatly).
Once you’ve picked your mappings, you click "Next Step."
If your import is over a certain size, you will get to a page that tells you it is pre-processing your file and you will get an inbox message when the pre-processing is complete. If the file is under a certain size, you will be sent to the Questions page directly.
On the Questions page, similarly to the Goodreads import, you get a quick run-down on what LibraryThing found. After this, "Questions" allows you to customize just how your import will be handled, and what to do with books already in your LibraryThing catalog or books that are in the file more than once.
As with the new Goodreads Import, import tracking is much improved. Other improvements:
- Everyone gets a page of past imports
- Progress notices follow you around LibraryThing, so you can import records and go elsewhere on the site. When the imports are done, or you need to answer some questions, you will be notified.
See the talk post https://www.librarything.com/topic/374440 for more information about the import improvements in general.
2CtrSacredSciences
Added an obscure book this morning. One library offered a Marc export, but I thought, "nah, never works well for me." Then I did it anyway, and it was so lovely and quick. Thanks for that and all the other improvements lately!
3Lhammond
I am making specialized sub libraries for topics and then donating the books to special interest causes in batches of 200.
I would like to import Abebooks low values ( and high) to make the group's able to estimate tax receipts or total value of the donation. Others could use this feature to estimate collections for insurance valuations. In a perfect world it would also do eBay sold and asking prices. You can see how this would also be useful to book dealers, which I am not. I'd also like a way to sort and export by date going forward the next batch of donations so far I have donated a fur trade history Library, an intelligence library and a military library, ahead are a 600 volume environmental history Library, and a music library and a SciFi library. Library thing is making cataloguing and providing call number spreadsheets and review and keyword lists to the group's I am giving these books to a breeze. Love it.
I would like to import Abebooks low values ( and high) to make the group's able to estimate tax receipts or total value of the donation. Others could use this feature to estimate collections for insurance valuations. In a perfect world it would also do eBay sold and asking prices. You can see how this would also be useful to book dealers, which I am not. I'd also like a way to sort and export by date going forward the next batch of donations so far I have donated a fur trade history Library, an intelligence library and a military library, ahead are a 600 volume environmental history Library, and a music library and a SciFi library. Library thing is making cataloguing and providing call number spreadsheets and review and keyword lists to the group's I am giving these books to a breeze. Love it.
4Keeline
>3 Lhammond: , this might have some application but what if you take the first Harry Potter book and see a range of 1¢ (because they are dirt common) and $10,000 (for a first printing). It's not terribly meaningful without context of edition, printing, and condition.
The condition is hard to correlate because terms like "As New", "Fine", "Very Good", "Good", "Fair", "Reading Copy", "Acceptable" have subjective meanings. There are also modifiers of + and - or "near" used. Responsible booksellers' grades fall closer to something like this:
10/10 "Fine" — there is no "Mint" for books
8/10 "Very Good" — minimum collector grade
6/10 "Good" — euphemism for a reading copy
Books and jackets get separate grades. The difference in value from the same seller for the same printing can be profound on the basis of condition. A hypothedical typical model might be:
10/10 — $100
8/10 — $50
6/10 — $25 — if you can sell it at all
But your idea does have merit. Back in 2001 I made a Palm Query App for the Palm VII PDA. This device had a fold-out antenna and worked with the pager network for a low data cap Internet connection. I put a form on the PQA that sent requests to my PHP script. That script checked the database (caching) and if it was not there, it sent the request to used.addall.com to get listings. Those were put in the database. The first thing the PQA saw was a range of low and high prices for listings for the search term. If I wanted more detail, I clicked the link and saw the most basic information. If one looked good I could drill down for further detail. This was all to respect the very limited data plan to avoid using up a month's allocation in a single bookstore visit. Needless to say it impressed the members of the San Diego Booksellers Association when I demonstrated it. It rather surprised the owners of the bookstore I managed for a dozen years (1988-2000). It was very useful being able to check used book database prices "on the road".
James
The condition is hard to correlate because terms like "As New", "Fine", "Very Good", "Good", "Fair", "Reading Copy", "Acceptable" have subjective meanings. There are also modifiers of + and - or "near" used. Responsible booksellers' grades fall closer to something like this:
10/10 "Fine" — there is no "Mint" for books
8/10 "Very Good" — minimum collector grade
6/10 "Good" — euphemism for a reading copy
Books and jackets get separate grades. The difference in value from the same seller for the same printing can be profound on the basis of condition. A hypothedical typical model might be:
10/10 — $100
8/10 — $50
6/10 — $25 — if you can sell it at all
But your idea does have merit. Back in 2001 I made a Palm Query App for the Palm VII PDA. This device had a fold-out antenna and worked with the pager network for a low data cap Internet connection. I put a form on the PQA that sent requests to my PHP script. That script checked the database (caching) and if it was not there, it sent the request to used.addall.com to get listings. Those were put in the database. The first thing the PQA saw was a range of low and high prices for listings for the search term. If I wanted more detail, I clicked the link and saw the most basic information. If one looked good I could drill down for further detail. This was all to respect the very limited data plan to avoid using up a month's allocation in a single bookstore visit. Needless to say it impressed the members of the San Diego Booksellers Association when I demonstrated it. It rather surprised the owners of the bookstore I managed for a dozen years (1988-2000). It was very useful being able to check used book database prices "on the road".
James
