MARC Report: Record Templates

USING MARC REPORT FOR ORIGINAL RECORDS

MARC Report can be used to create original cataloging records from user-defined templates. The general overview for this feature would be: 1. Create template records using the 'Edit Templates' option under the 'File' menu, then 2. During an Edit Session, press <F11> to add template(s) to the file you are working on.

ABOUT TEMPLATES

We supply only one template with the program, called the DEFAULT TEMPLATE. This template cannot be changed or added to an Edit Session; but you can copy it to create a new template, which you can then change to suit your needs.

To copy a Template, follow these steps: 1. Select 'Edit Templates' under the File menu 2. Select the 'DEFAULT' template (or any other template that you have created) and click 'Open' 3. Under the Edit menu, select 'Save current record as a Template' (The shortcut key for this is <F12> ). 4. Enter a new name for the template and click 'Save' The program will save the new template, and then go back to the template that you copied (the DEFAULT, in this case).

For example, let's say you use the steps above to create a template called 'BOOKS 1'. To make changes to 'BOOKS 1', you will first need to close the DEFAULT template, then repeat steps 1 and 2 above, only this time selecting the 'BOOKS 1' template in step 2 instead of the DEFAULT TEMPLATE.

You can also create templates from any existing record in an Edit Session by using the steps above.

You can make as many templates as you wish.

There are no rules on what you can put in a template as long as it conforms to general MARC principles: a tag is a three-digit number, an indicator is 0-9 or a blank, and the data portion contains at least one subfield delimiter. NOTE: In order to save an empty tag, you will have to have at least one subfield present.

To Delete a template, open it using the Edit Templates option and press the <Delete> button (and answer 'Yes' to the prompts that follow).

Templates are stored as MARC files in a folder called 'Templates' in the MARC Report Options directory. (In fact, editing a template is the same as running an Edit Session, except there is only one record in the file.) You can assign any name that you want to a template, as long as it is a valid filename (the program will warn you if this is not the case).

ABOUT THE TEMPLATE FLAG

All template records are created with a special flag in byte 23 of the leader (000/23) (which usually contains a zero).

MARC Report uses this Template Flag: 1. to avoid validating template records, 2. to display the name of the template, and some hints about editing templates, and 3. to prevent Template records from being inadvertently added to an Edit Session.

ADDING A TEMPLATE TO AN EDIT SESSION

Whenever you have a MARC file open for editing, the following option will appear under the Edit menu: 'Add record to session–from Template'. The shortcut key for this option is <F11>.

When you select this option or press <F11>, the program opens a window that lists all of the templates that you have created. If you select a template and click the 'Open' button, the template is added to your Edit Session. Templates are always added to the end of a file.

Edit the template as if it were any other record in your file. On the top right, where the Brief Messages usually appear, you will see the name that you gave the template when you created it. On the bottom right, where the Notes usually appear, you will see a hint that reminds you that this is a template record.

Once you have completed editing the template record, click on the Leader and enter a '0' in position 23 to clear the Template Flag. MARC Report will then validate the record (and, of course, present the Perfection picture on the right).

To make this step easier to remember, the Notes window contains the following message (black print on a yellow background) whenever a template record is being edited: “This is a template record. In order to validate or save it to the current session, you have to click on the Leader and set 000/23 to '0'.” This note will does not go away until you clear the Template Flag.

You can navigate away from a template record at any time, and when you come back to it, the screen will display exactly as described above. However, if you close the Edit Session, the template record will not be saved with the other records in the session, unless the Template Flag was cleared.