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Yale Archival Management Systems Committee: MARCXML and Voyager Import

Background

As of September 2019, Yale ArchivesSpace users are able to export MARCXML from ArchivesSpace and import those records into Voyager.

Staff should note that this process will only work for creating new MARC records. We have not yet created a process for updating MARC records via ArchivesSpace MARCXML export.

Staff should also note that this process does NOT also create holdings records (mfhds) or item records. Holdings records and item records (if needed) need to be created manually. That may be a future feature of this process, but it is not yet included.

ArchivesSpace MARCXML to Voyager

Workflow Requirements and Setup

To utilize this workflow, you must:

 

  1. Have MarcEdit (any version) installed on your computer. Most library computers should already have MarcEdit installed. The most current version is MarcEdit 7.1, which can be downloaded here.  
  2. Have Java (version 8 or newer) installed on your computer.  If you don’t have Java, it can be downloaded here.
  3. Create a separate folder for this workflow, either on a shared drive or on your computer.  If one has already been created on a shared drive, you do not need to complete this step. 
  4. Download the files in the aspace and vendor/saxonica folders from Github here. Place the files in the folder you created in step 3.  If it has already been downloaded on a shared drive, you do not need to complete this step.

Once you have confirmed that you have MarcEdit and Java installed and the workflow files set up correctly, configure your computer using the following steps.  These steps only need to be completed once for each person who will be using the workflow. 

 

  1. First, find the location of the MarcEdit command file (called cmarcedit.exe) on your computer.   It will most likely be located in either C:\Users\yournetid\AppData\Roaming\MarcEdit 7 or C:\Program Files\MarcEdit 7.  If you cannot find it, search for a file called “cmarcedit” and copy the file path.  
  2. Go to your Windows Settings > About > System Info > Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables > User Variables, and select “New.” 
  3. For Variable Name, enter marcedit_path . For Variable Value, paste the file path for the cmarcedit file identified in step 1. For the Variable Value, do not include the file name (i.e. it should look something like C:\Program Files\MarcEdit 6) 

Workflow Steps

  1. Navigate to the resource record you want to export in ArchivesSpace.
  2. Select Export > Download MARCXML.  Check or uncheck the “include unpublished” box, depending on whether you want unpublished content to be included in the export.
  3. A dialog box will open prompting you to either save or open the XML file.  Click save, as opening the file from this window will move it to a separate temporary folder that is difficult to find later.
  4. Find the XML file in your Downloads folder, and move it into the export folder.
  5. Click on the create-marc-import-file command file in the aspace folder.
    1. If you encounter issues with using this command file, see the Troubleshooting section at the bottom of this document.
  6. Open Voyager, and go to Record > Import > From New File.  
  7. Navigate to the Import folder and select the MARC file (identified by your NetID and timestamp). 
    1. If you encounter an encoding error at this step, in Voyager, got to Options -> Preferences -> Mapping, and make sure that the Local Import option is set to “MARC21 UTF-8”.
  8. If multiple records were exported, a window will open asking you to select the MARC files you wish to import. Select the files you want, then click OK.  
  9. The new MARC records will open in Voyager.  If multiple files have been imported, a new Voyager window will open for each one. 
  10. Review the records before pressing Save to DB. The records can be suppressed pending later review by pressing “Suppress from OPAC” before clicking Save to DB. 

 

Troubleshooting

  • If you get a message while trying to run the create-marc-import-file.cmd file that cmarcedit has encountered an error, check your Windows Settings > About > System Info > Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables > User Variables > Path settings. You can review those settings by navigating to the Environmental Variables menu and clicking “Edit” after selecting the Path variable:

 

  • Confirm that the following highlighted strings are in your Path settings; they should read %SystemRoot%\system32 and C:\Windows\System32\wbem:

 

Resources

Slides outlining this information may be found here: ArchivesSpace to Voyager slides

A recording demoing this process, with captions, is available here: Yale University Library ArchivesSpace MARCXML to MARC demo