Program Title: More Product AND More Process : Automating Archival Processing Workflows
ILS: Sierra
Program Description: In the Spring of 2023, the Systems and Cataloging Librarian and the Archival Processing Manager began brainstorming strategies to reduce redundancies in the Archival Processing team’s workflow. At the time, collection-level descriptions had to be created individually in two different systems with different metadata standards: ArchivesSpace, which was primarily built for the EAD XML standard but also exports MARC-XML, and OCLC Connexion, which is built for MARC21. MarcEdit was ultimately identified as the best tool to use as a ‘middle-man’ between the programs to reduce redundant metadata entry.
This lightning round will describe how The Huntington Library Archival Processing team utilizes MarcEdit to transform MARC-XML files exported from ArchivesSpace to automate the bulk of the most common edits needed to the bib records for archival collections, which are then imported into both the WorldCat database and Sierra. It will cover the overall workflow from start to finish and will also provide a closer look at the MarcEdit ‘Task List’ that automates these updates, including explanations of more complex commands that employ Regular Expressions and for-loops. Finally, the presenters will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this new workflow as well as its gaps and potential automation projects they hope to pursue in the near future.
Speaker/ Information: Maggie Hughes (mhughes@huntington.org) - Archival Processing Manager, Huntington Library
Leslie Collie (lcollie@huntington.org) - Systems & Cataloging Librarian, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens