Multiple Quick-Cataloging Templates
Scenario:
There are multiple workflows and purposes for which the Quick Cataloging interface is used. For example, in course reserves, staff frequently need to create records for different resource formats beyond book and article. Staff at the circulation desks need to create records any time an item brought to the desk is not found in Alma, and these resources can take any form - from sound recordings on CD to equipment like laptop chargers.
Problem:
Not all of these materials fit the current “book” and “article” templates provided for Quick Cataloging. To enable efficient use of the Quick Cataloging feature, it is essential that staff are able to quickly complete record creation tasks without having to “fix” the records later because the current “Book” and “Article” templates don’t contain the correct coding.
This lack of proper templates leads to the need for libraries to educate non-cataloging staff on why records look/work the way they do, and to create “cheat sheets” for their use in editing quick-cataloged records to match their resource type. These fixes and workarounds add a considerable amount of time to the “Quick” Cataloging workflow.
Request:
The ability to configure multiple Quick Cataloging templates would more effectively meet libraries’ needs. For each template, staff should be able to configure the template’s default fields and mandatory fields. The templates, once configured, should appear in a drop-down selection list alongside the existing book and article record types when the Quick Cataloging feature is used.
Lesley Lowery
shared this idea
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Laura Krier
commented
Yes, this would be very, very helpful! One of the key uses for quick cataloging is adding personal copies for reserve, and a lot of the time this is media. Our reserves folks are not catalogers and asking them to edit MARC records is outside the scope of their work or comfort level.
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Sveinbjörg Sveinsdóttir
commented
It is important for small libraries where there is no qualified librarian with cataloging permission to have a way to get their materials into the system for circulation purposes. Customizing quick cataloging templates would be one way of achieving this.
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Beth Juhl
commented
This would be very helpful for our course reserves staff who frequently need to add brief bibs for video and would like these to appear in discovery as video material type. As it is now, someone with cataloging roles has to go back in and edit the record in MDE to update the physical format.
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Anonymous
commented
This idea also asks for the quick cataloging template to be configurable.