[Nmsalsa] Fwd: EXTERNAL: [core-eforum] Regarding Library Database Cleanup #1

Thu Dec 10 17:06:10 MST 2020

Since I've been in a "cleanup/fix mistakes" in Polaris/SALSA while at 
home, I thought this eforum was timely.

Here is an example of one library working to fix records. It reminds me 
of the early days of SALSA (different ILS) where I would do an exact 
title search starting with A, An, The... to correct them, due to an 
incorrect indicator in OCLC. Being able to do keyword searching made it 
less of a problem but it still might keep users from finding a title if 
they are doing an "exact" title search. And when there were alternative 
titles with no indicators for the initial articles, that caused problems 
in searching. Like we don't have enough to do... ;-)

sms

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	Re: EXTERNAL: [core-eforum] Regarding Library Database Cleanup #1
Date: 	Tue, 8 Dec 2020 16:31:11 +0000
From: 	Tony Zbaraschuk via groups.io <tony.z=swau.edu at groups.io>
Reply-To: 	core-eforum at groups.io
To: 	core-eforum at groups.io <core-eforum at groups.io>

Tony Zbaraschuk here.  I'm the Public Services Librarian at Southwestern 
Adventist University, but since we're a small place my job overlaps into 
a lot of technical services areas.   Our system is TLC's LS2.

I've found a lot of issues while weeding (bad labels / call number 
assignments, multivolume sets where a previous ILS transition left only 
one item record per bib record), and we tend to focus on errors that 
would cause patron search problems.  Missing 008 date fields have caused 
a lot of grief --L S2 shows the date from that field next to the title 
in some displays...

One quick way to find a lot of problems is to just generate a list of 
all your bib records (I dump them into an Excel spreadsheet) and then 
sort by various columns -- badly formatted call numbers or titles, for 
instance, will often sort out at the beginning or end of a regular list, 
and then you can narrow-angle focus on just them.  You can find a lot of 
different problems fast.  In systems that let you do browse displays of 
subject headings, you can often notice inconsistencies just by looking 
through the list.

Another technique is to do keyword or regexp searches for 
[Ll][0-9][0-9][0-9] and a few variants; it's really amazing how many 
systems typed in letter-l instead of digit-1 for call numbers or dates 
in the 260 field way back when.  I'm sure a lot of them got cleaned up, 
but a lot are likely still hanging around.  You won't know unless you look.

Then there's Terry Ballard's list of typographical errors in library 
databases (http://terryballard.org/typos/typoscomplete.html 
<http://terryballard.org/typos/typoscomplete.html>).

All of these, of course, can be major productivity sinks if you permit, 
so the trick is to do them in small pieces (look for one each day or 
something).

Tony Z

*Tony Zbaraschuk*

Public Services Librarian, Assistant Professor – Library

Chan Shun Centennial Library

100 West Hillcrest Street | Keene | Texas | 76059

www.swau.edu <http://www.swau.edu/> | 817-202-6480 | tony.z at swau.edu 
<mailto:tony.z at swau.edu>

1562774135912

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*From:* core-eforum at groups.io <core-eforum at groups.io> on behalf of 
Jones, Julene L. via groups.io <julene.jones=uky.edu at groups.io>
*Sent:* Tuesday, December 8, 2020 8:58 AM
*To:* core-eforum at groups.io
*Subject:* EXTERNAL: [core-eforum] Regarding Library Database Cleanup #1
THIS MESSAGE COMES FROM A SOURCE OUTSIDE SWAU. PLEASE USE CAUTION WHEN 
OPENING ATTACHMENTS OR LINKS.

Good morning!

Welcome to the continued “Regarding Library Database Cleanup” e-forum.  
This forum began in October 2020, and continues today and tomorrow. 
Susan Wynne, Emily Williams and I (Julene Jones) are your hosts for this 
two-day email discussion.  To unsubscribe from these messages, please 
use the link at the end of this email.

I posted the summary last week from the curtailed e-forum we held in 
October. In the next two days, we’ll continue the discussion we started 
then about database enhancement, as well as routine maintenance and 
cleanup projects of all types including best practices, documentation, 
suggested programs or methodologies for tackling these projects as well 
as the conceptual philosophies behind these projects.

Our discussions in Day 1 of this e-forum will focus on the mechanics and 
practical matters involved in these projects.  Tomorrow we’ll shift our 
discussions towards project management and conceptual matters related to 
database cleanup projects.

*To get us started*, please introduce yourself and share what ILS/ILP 
you are currently working in. In addition, what are common database 
errors that you correct (including errors of all types: bibliographic, 
holdings, authority control, circulation, patron, or acquisitions)?

If you have any comments that you would like to post anonymously, or 
would like to register a concern off-list, feel free to email me 
directly at julene.jones at uky.edu <mailto:julene.jones at uky.edu>.  If you 
choose to do this, please include the phrase “anonymous comment” in your 
email’s subject line so that I do not miss your message.

Each day, sessions will officially begin and end at:

Pacific: 7 AM – 3 PM

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Eastern: 10 AM – 6 PM

We really want to hear about your experiences, so please jump in!  Our 
second question will be posted in a little over an hour.  As usual, we 
will distribute summaries for each day along with a final summary 
following the conclusion of the e-forum.  We will also compile a list of 
resources that are shared.

To participate, simply email your responses to: *core-eforum at groups.io* 
<mailto:core-eforum at groups.io>*.*

We look forward to hearing from you!

-Julene

*To unsubscribe*from the Groups.io Core e-Forum, visit 
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Julene Jones

Interim Coordinator of Library Assessment

University of Kentucky Libraries

julene.jones at uky.edu <mailto:julene.jones at uky.edu>

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