Difference between revisions of "Step 1.1"

Revision as of 09:14, 30 November 2011

Step 1.1 : File Upload & Initial Format

FILE FORMAT

There are all kinds of records nowadays, comprising many different formats: MARC, MARCXML, ONIX, etc. Files of these types may contain similar information, yet it is broken up into different fields or elements, depending on format.

While MARS 2.0 processes natively in MARC format, we have many tools available to successfully convert to or from any of the other formats listed above.

A library can process all or part of the bibliographic records from its local ILS or process bibliographic records purchased from a different cataloging source.

FILE HANDLING

At Backstage, we enjoy providing our customers with options. Each part of our profile is geared to be as customizable as possible, providing you with a few different options to get you started. Any part of the profile may then be expanded upon in order to match your expectations to the desired results.

Our preferred method of file-handling is through our website portal. Each customer will have their own login and password to access the site. Once logged in, our customers can view or edit their profile at any time, upload new files for processing, or retrieve files at their convenience.

We also recognize that our customers may already have upload and download scripts written on their side. So it may make more sense to use a traditional FTP method to transfer files between Backstage and your system.

In this first step, we think it is a good time to also discuss the format of your MARC records. Here you can let us know which format the file submitted will be sent as: MARC-8 or UTF-8. If you do not know, chances are excellent that we can easily inform you once you upload your file to us.