Summary and Schedule

ATTENTION This is an experimental test of The Carpentries Workbench lesson infrastructure. It was automatically converted from the source lesson via the lesson transition script.

If anything seems off, please contact Zhian Kamvar zkamvar@carpentries.org

Under Design

This lesson is currently in its early design stage; please check the repository issues and pull requests to see what we have so far. This Library Carpentry lesson introduces people working in library- and information-related roles to working with MARC data in MarcEdit. At the conclusion of the lesson you will understand what the MarcEdit software does and how to use the MarcEdit software to work with MARC data files. Contributions are very welcome

{% comment %} This is a comment in Liquid {% endcomment %}

Prerequisites

This lesson requires a basic knowledge of the MARC21 standard.

The actual schedule may vary slightly depending on the topics and exercises chosen by the instructor.

Getting ready

You need to install MarcEdit and download a data file to follow this lesson. If you are using an older version of MarcEdit, it is recommended you upgrade to the latest tested version.

Installing and running MarcEdit

MarcEdit is a free, open-source application. You can download MarcEdit from https://marcedit.reeset.net/downloads. This lesson has been tested with the following versions: MarcEdit 7 (specifically 7.5.21.153) for Windows and MarcEdit 3 for MacOS.

Packages, along with associated system requirements, are available on https://marcedit.reeset.net/downloads for Windows and MacOS.

To download the current version for MacOS

For MacOS, select “MacOs”.

To download the current version for Windows

For Windows, select Windows Build Options -> Download MarcEdit 7.5 (All Users). The Windows User Only Installation should work for the majority of participants. If you will be using a communal computer, and expect MarcEdit to be used by a number of users on that machine, read through the “Windows Build Options” pop-up to decide the best installation option for you. You can also view these video tutorials for this type of advanced installation.

Notes for Windows users:

System requirements for MarcEdit 7/MarcEdit MacOS 3 https://marcedit.reeset.net/downloads:

  • Operating system: Vista (32 & 64-bit), MacOS 10.10+
  • RAM: 8MB minimum; 32 MB+ is recommended
  • Disc space for Windows: 34 MB (setup); 15 MB (application)
  • Disc space for MacOS: 60 MB (setup); 150 MB (installed)
  • For Windows, Windows .NET 4.7.2+ is required.
  • For MacOS, Installer, where all dependencies are packaged and installed, is required.

Determining if your system is 32 or 64-bit

  • MacOS: Select the About This Mac option in the Apple menu. On the About This Mac window, click the Systems Report below the information in the Overview. Click on Hardware. In the Hardware Overview in the top left column, you will see the processor name to determine if it’s a 32-bit or 64-bit CPU.
  • Windows: In the Start menu, type in About to get About Your PC. In Device Specifications, the system type will tell you if it’s a 32 or 64-bit CPU.

MarcEdit Setup Wizard

After downloading MarcEdit and once you launch the installation, you will be asked to go through the setup wizard. The wizard will first ask you to configure the default font, font size, and recommended theme. The wizard will then ask you to configure the MARC standard and file standard being used.

  • Click on “Let’s get started”
  • MarcEdit Appearance
    • Default font: Select your preferred font
    • Application font size: Select your preferred font size
    • Recommended Theme: Select default
  • MarcEdit Data Settings
    • My MARC Format is: Select MARC21
    • Default Recording Encoding: Select MARC21/UTF8
    • Make sure “Enforce Unicode Normalization” is checked
    • XML Processing Enging: Select Choose for me

Downloading the data

For this lesson, our sample file, marc_sample_data.mrc, is a MARC binary file. To download this file, right click or control click in order to save the file (NOTE: In Safari, right click and select download linked file; in Chrome and Firefox, right click and select save link as…). If you click on the link, this binary file will open in a new tab or window in your browser. Make a note of the location (i.e. the folder, your desktop) to which you save the file. This MARC file follows the MARC21 standard and is encoded in UTF-8.

Getting help

Installation video demostrations are available for all users https://youtu.be/FX0r7jIxeN4.

If you encounter problems installing or running MarcEdit, a good source of support is the MarcEdit mailing list and user forum. You can also fill out the Help Form. Include your operating system when searching to find the most relevant answers for your issue.

You may also want to check the Videos or the MarcEdit Knowledge Base.