[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

MS Access to Marc



Bonita

For moving strings of text, such as those exported from Access, to the Marc
Communications format, I recommend the program Data Magician published by
Folland. I've used the Data Magician to migrate files from dBase, Access, and
comma delimited files, such as those exported by Pro-Cite, to Inmagic
db/Textworks import format and Marc communications format. I have not moved
records from Access to Marc because I've never kept bibliographic records in an
Access database.

A functional, demonstraton version of Data Magician is available for download at
http://www.folland.com.

The downside of Data Magician: it is an MS/ DOS program, with a learning curve.
The upside is that, correctly configured, Data Magician will move data between
formats with remarkable flexibility. It is a great tool for information
professionals who migrate bibliographic data  on a regular basis.

Another way to achieve similar results, probably with more work, is a free
program called MarcMakr, available from the Library of Congress website,
http://lcweb.loc.gov/marc/marcutil.html.  MarcMakr will input a precisely
formatted comma delimited file and output a valid Marc Communications file. A
companion program called MarcBrakr will input a Marc Communications file and
output a comma delimited file of the type needed by MarcMakr.  Since I purchased
Data Magician before  encountering MarcMakr and MarcBrakr, I've never used the
free programs to do any real work.  The input requirements of MarcMakr translate
to extensive massaging of the text file one might export from Access. Data
Magician can automate or eliminate that massaging. (MarcMakr is also a DOS
program. It will run under Win95 but not under NT.)

If the  libraries and historical societies using Access were to submit
cataloging records to your agency in a standard comma delimited format, with
fields in an order defined to your specification, you could probably work out a
Marc translation routine in a few hours.  However, if  data were submitted with
the fields in different sequences, and some fields missing, it might be more
efficient to forget about migration software and instead cut and paste the
records into a MARC data entry window of your local system or bibliographic
utility.


Steven Johnson
Librarian and archivist
Wildlife Conservation Society
sjohnson@wcs.org

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>