Learning Lexwin Updated January 21, 2014 This short guide was designed more as a learning tool. If you have never used Lexwin it is suggested that you work your way through step by step. At any time you can load your sample database on website free for one year. Click on Lexweb and follow the prompts. When you change your local Lexwin database, the changes will shortly be reflected on the Internet. Publish your link to Lexweb and you have instant Internet presence. Some of the advanced features are only visible if you have a leased version of the program, or a trial lease membership. You can obtain the registration codes easily by emailing jimwbruce@gmail.com. That will enable you to use these additional capabilities: a. Amazon Linking to an ISBN field b. Emailing notices to patrons c. Finding cataloguing from other libraries (eg Library of Congress Z39.50 link) d. Automatic backups to a network drive. A. Search and Display functions. 1. In the opening screen of Lexwin there is a taskbar with M A P on the left. These are the databases frequently accessed; you can also get to them with FILE-OPEN. If you are using the sample Lexwin download, Click on M , it is a sample database called (remarkably) sample.fil. All local Lex databases end in FIL. Your Main file is usually called Loc.fil is likely not yet available until you enter in your local items. "A" is your alternate database. "P" is for your file of patrons who borrow items. There is also a button for Z39.50 on the taskbar, it is for searching large Internet databases to obtain catalog records for your new items, and depositing them in your own databses. 2. Type in the search CAT. You should get a list of 8 items. All but one have a "1" at the end of the list. That numeral indicates the number of items held in that record that are available for circulation. An "0" would indicate "all out". A blank indicates "no physical item." This would apply to an electronic source, for example. Click on "Marc how to.." and you will see a "display" screen. Click on the link to "MARC standards" (if you are on the Internet) and your browser should take you to the cataloged website. If it doesn’t, click on Tools-Options-Internet browser and locate your browser program. A list of Aboriginal websites is now being built, eventually we foresee letting libraries subscribe to custom lists of websites that suit their collection criteria. 3. Click on "Catch the wind." If you have a leased version or a trial lease you will notice the link after the ISBN field to "Amazon Entry". This link can be changed to other databases that file their items with a followed by . Click on "Amazon Entry." You have access to such things as user reviews, other works by the author, similar titles, etc. 4. At the bottom of the search list are tabs that say "Search, List, Bibliography, Display, and Marc". Click on each of those and see the different representations. Click record 1 and try the page up and page down keys. 5. Click on column headings to sort by number, author, or title. Click your tab for "bibliography" and then use Tools-Sort to do the same thing, as there are no column headings for a bibliography. 6. Go back to the Search screen by clicking the "search" button. Type in this search where it says "Type in the Keywords below". It will demonstrate the expert mode on the command list cat or c=599 or pet. or (s=animal not s=fiction) or "Audobon Society" This gets 14 hits, and means: search for words beginning with "cat", add records beginning with call number 599, add words with pet (and no letters after it because of the period), add a group with subject headings starting with animal or fiction, add records containing the phrase "Audobon Society" 7. Try "Start with last Search" and "Start with old search." These are not essential, but really useful on the odd occasion. 8. Experiment with "browse the indexes" search, which allows you to select an index and type a few characters to scroll to the position in the index you want. 9. Click "Search unindexed". This function allows you to let the system browse through your entire database to find character strings within a particular field. For example you can search for contents (field 505) contains "mathline". This will give you a record that has one chapter about mathline. The same search can be done simply by typing 505=mathline on the keyword search line. The equal sign should be thought of as "contains" not as "exactly the same." B. Search other libraries, transfer and import records In some senses it would be better to try and demonstrate how to build a MARC record yourself, but really even the professionals only do this when they can't find a useful copy to work with from somewhere else. 1. Click on the yellow [Search ] and then the "Z39.50" on the taskbar about 1" down the screen. You will be in the Internet library search, the first-search default is to the Library of Congress. 2. Generally you should set the first box for ISBN and search only for that, and get a unique match. If this does not work, set the first box for "phrase in title" and the second box for "author." This will find hits that match for author and title, but the publisher and year of publication may need correcting. 3. From your hit list, select a record and click on Edit--Edit record. Your object in this screen is to customize the record for use in your own MARC database. If the publisher and year are correct, strike the TAB key and put in your local barcode, alter the call number selected if necessary. If the wrong call data is being selected that can be changed in Tools--Options--Lexwin setup. Right click on the "Field name" area and you will see a considerable amount of help. Learn by experimentation here, there is no harm you can do to a sample record visiting you from the Library of Congress. The "Help for fields" selection will explain all the options more fully. 4. MARC stands for "machine readable cataloging," and initially it appears intimidating. If you are new as a cataloger I would suggest that you are better off first searching through your sample database in MARC format and getting a general idea for what is going on. Then search for help on the Web. In MARC, three digit numbers are used for all the fields from 000 to 999. These are "tags" and stand for the fields. The fields are repeatable (there can be more than one), and they are divisible into "subfields" using letters of the alphabet. That is why the title (245) field has the main part in $a (subfield a), the subtitle in $b, and the author line on the title page in $c. Here is a more technical description of MARC for you: http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/ecbdhome.html Now back to the record on your screen 5. Click on the Search tabs (your record in edit will be held). Do a search of the item database (M), then click on the Edit tab once again. The record from the Library of Congress is again on screen. Normally you would check to see if the essential elements match what you see in the hard-copy book. For example, you would check to see if you have correct matches in ISBN, title, author, city, publisher, date, and edition. In this case just strike TAB and assume it is correct. You will see the 901 or holdings field. 6. Lex uses field number 901 to put in your local data relating to the individual copy of the book. Other systems use different fields, usually in the 9xx range. Lex can move fields around, or export all its records so that this field is in the 852 field which is as good a standard as exists for trading records between systems. You will see in this example: Copy $c Part $d Branch $e Call-Prefix $f Call-Classif. $g PN6728.C34 W385 1989 Call-Cutter $h Item Type $i Price $j Accesion $k Sub-Location $l Shelving Title $r Barcode $a Purchase Date $y Volume Info $b To get the hang of it, put 1 in the copy field, 741.5 in the copy field (Dewey), "Wat" in the Call-cutter field, MLB in the Branch field, and 88888 in the barcode field. If you chose one already in your database Lexwin the system will warn you. The barcode is generally used as the item control number for circulation purposes. IF THE ITEM IS REFERENCE or some other category with different circulation policies, put a number indicating this under "Item type". For example, "2" could mean "reference book". Since this is a sample database don't be fussy with your changes. When complete strike ESCAPE, or CONTROL-N to add another holdings field, generally for another copy. 7. Strike ESCAPE to get out of the "holdings dialog box," and strike SAVE and select "Append to Alt...sample.fil." You can have as many databases as you want, and save to the one of your choice. Notice the default to "correct punctuation..." The system spots obvious punctuation errors in MARC records. 8. Now click on "M" (for sample.fil) database. Click Edit-Append, and you will see a new record screen. Strike "Page-Up" and you should see the "Calvin and Hobbes" record you just added. This Z39.50 search and transfer feature is really more than worth the price of a lease. Sorry for that blatant advertising, could not resist. 9. ESCAPE out of edit mode, and click on the "Z39.50" for Internet search again. This time search for an ISBN number. Change "Search for words" to "ISBN". Try one from a book you have handy. ISBN searches for cataloguing are preferred because the editions usually match exactly. C. Cataloguing items "from Scratch" 1. Creating templates If in your item database (M) click Edit-Append and you will see a totally blank template for a MARC record. We are going to create our own template. For example, lets delete "Uniform Title" by right clicking on the field title and selecting "remove tag and data." Now add an 856 (web link) field by clicking on "Tags" in the top right, select "Insert tag," and type 856. You could have browsed the list of tags as well and chosen 856. Now click on the 901 field, which is used to put local holdings information (like barcode, call number, etc.). You will see a help dialog box pop up. If it doesn’t, use the right-arrow key. In "Branch $e" enter a code for your library. Then you wont' have to type it in every time. ESCAPE from this holdings dialog. Click "Template" on the top right, and select "add form". Name the form "my library" or something that suits you. Click OK. Now strike ESCAPE, and confirm your exit by clicking YES when prompted. Go back to the screen with Edit-Append. Your new template is now the default. This is a convenient and important feature. Cataloguing work tends to come in sections. You may have 50 donate CDs to handle, use a special template until the work is done. 2. Dialog boxes in Append-Edit: Subfield help We will look more closely at append screen options. Some of the fields have help dialog boxes. Right click on the "Title 245" field and select "subfield help window" which gives you a dialog for data like this: Title $a Painting houses Rest of Title $b Guide for the homeowner Responsibility $c John and Verna Smith Date of work $f Media $h Language $l Number of Part $n Name of Part $p 3. Dialog boxes in Append-Edit: Automatic help Some fields automatically offer help. Go to the 505 field. It can be used for chapter titles. Strike your right arrow and select "advanced table of contents". A dialog comes up that will expand on into many chapters: Section Part $g 1 Title $t Buying Paint Responsibility $r Green, Roberta Lexwin will keep adding chapters as long as you wish to continue adding them. Escape when done. The titles automatically go in the word and title indexes enabling "deep cataloguing." A new field (relatively) is the one for linking. Click on the "856 LINKS" field (that you added with Tags) and right arrow into the dialog box. You see a dialog box that will help you make a link to a website as follows: URL $u www.lex.sk.ca Link Text $y Lex Systems Inc. Public note $z Access method $2 This entry would enable the viewer to see a highlighted "Lex Systems Inc." that would like to this company's website using your default browser. It will likely be the job of future librarians not just to acquire resources for their patrons as to research the sort of material they need and link to it. Eventually the need to limit what we find will be more important than to simply locate alternatives. Escape from your cataloguing record without saving it, unless you have spent enough effort to want to keep the record. D. Configuration of Lexwin Click on Tools-Option-configure For purposes of this quick guide there are only a few things note right now. 1. Default call number Select either Dewey or LC and the correct number will "pop into" your 901 holdings field when you attempt to use this field. This saves considerable time. 2. Main and alternate databases First of all notice the main and alternate databases. You can enter hundreds of databases if you want, but two of them earn recognition as "main" and "alternate". Sometimes the alternate is a union database; frequently it is used for cataloguing a set of materials before transferring them to your main database. The Main databse is the term for the database most often accessed by staff and patrons, from which items will usually be circulated. The sample program has a main databse called sample.fil. If you use the system "for real" you would enter Tools-Options-Configure and set the main databses as loc.fil. That would start you with zero records, and you would import or create your own database. 3. Auto backup folder. The auto-backup feature is available to those with a current support contract (purchase customers) or those with a current or trial lease. Email jimwbruce@gmail.com for the trial lease. If you are on a network this can be invaluable. Lexwin will backup your item and patron databases at intervals defined by the number of edited or appended entries. Circ backups will be done to the same folder on a daily basis. Create the folders you are going to use for backups using explorer, then browse for the folders in the configuration screen. 4. URL linking to ISBN numbers The "URL linking to ISBN numbers" feature is available to those with a current support contract (purchase customers) or those with a current or trial lease. Email jimwbruce@gmail.com for the trial lease. The following prefix is automatically used to link the MARC record ISBN numbers to individual records a the Amazon website: http://www.amazon.com/dp/ Other publishers and resellers use this process as well. If you identify the prefix and locate it here in configuration, you can link to that site instead of Amazon. E. Entering patrons. If you have the sample product you will have sample patrons. If these have been lost or removed you will have to add at least one to experiment with the circulation functions. 1. Patrons are usually entered after the bibliographic database has been completed since there are fewer of them in almost all cases. 2. Patrons can be added manually or imported from other database programs capable of exporting "delimited files". The default for Lexwin is "Quotation and comma delimited" where fields are surrounded by quotation marks, and separated by commas". I recommend manual entry, except at very large academic institutions where another department does registration. Even then students often register with addresses they don't use for local mail. Libraries prefer reliable local mail delivery. 3. There are two procedures to add patrons. From the search screen you can click on "P" on the taskbar and then Edit--Append Record. You can also click on Circ-Enter Circ Module, then strike the key or click on the "App" button. 4. The patron ID field (010) is critical. The system needs a unique identifier for each patron. Most institutions print patron id cards with id barcodes on them. Typically these are Code 39 and start with number 10,000. These numbers can overlap with your book barcodes since the system treats item and patron files entirely separately. You may have a system that prints patron cards, if so these can usually print barcodes for you. You can set up MS-Publisher to print ID cards with photos and barcodes on plastic cards (using the correct printer). Get in touch with lex@lex.sk.ca for more details or search the user-group site at www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/lex1. It is possible to enter patron ids manually, but entry error is not uncommon when doing that. The system will accept letters or numbers, so you can have id "cookie", "silk", "runners" etc. 5. The "user-type" field is very significant. Your largest category of patrons is considered type "1." You don’t need to type in "1" as it is assumed if you enter nothing. You can enter a number here from 1 to 15. Think of this number as indicating "patrons having identical circulation policies". Don't enter 1 for adult and 2 for child unless your loan periods, number of books loaned, etc. are different. 6. Use the division field if you are in a school and intend to sort your notices by division, or print out overdue lists by division. Using grade here is not productive unless each grade can receive their reports or lists in a batch. 7. Entering the Email field enables you to email notices to patrons, which can be a big time and money saver. Note: Notice emailing is a feature available to customers with a current support contract or with a leased version. A trial can be arranged for no charge if you email jimwbruce@gmail.com. F. Circulation Setup From the Search screen click Circ-Circ Tools-Circulation Setup. Start at the General Defaults screen and work your way downwards. These screens are self-explanatory for the most part. G. Basic Circ-screen functions 1. Get to Circ through the "circulate" button, or from clicking Circ-Enter Circ Module. 2. The screen defaults to F2 Checkout. Library staff members will wand or type in the Patron ID and the Item ID. The loan period is shown and determined by your Circ-Circ Tools-Circulation Setup--Loan Periods button, and by your "item type" in your item records, 901-holdings field. 3. The sub-borrower field is used when a family member is allowed to borrow under the parent’s id number. Overdue reports will mention the "sub borrower." 4. Use "Status-note" to enter a note that will be read at the checkout desk the next time a patron id is entered. 5. The periodical button is used to checkout a specific volume-issue of a periodical for which only one bibliographic entry for the title is used. For example "MacLean's" can use a single barcode, and many simultaneous journal loans under that title can be made for specific issues. 6. The F7 patron display screen is very useful. Often a patron asks, "What books do I have out" or "what are the overdue charges for?" The detail can be seen and printed from the F7 screen. Books can also be checked in from there, fines paid, and receipts printed. 7. When patrons forget their id cards, I like to use phone numbers. I often discover the patrons phone number has changed. The opportunity can also be used to confirm addresses, which also change periodically. The patron is pleased to give all this information because she wants to be able to check out material without using her borrower’s card. 8. The F10 screen can be used to checkout materials without a borrower. This is handy where statistics of book use are important. Patrons leave out items they examine; the library uses the F10 function before reshelving the item. 9. The "F11 renew" button becomes visible if an item is found that is currently on loan. It is used to add a new loan period on to the existing one. The limits to renewal can be set in Circ-Circ Tools-Circ Setup, General Defaults, "Maximum...renewals..." G. Overdue and Fines Notices, Circ reports 1. Go to Circ-Circ Reports-Loans... and review the ways that can be used to report to patrons. Reports can go as lists or notices. Notices can be printed so that they can be inserted in window envelopes with the addresses showing. 2. Select "notices" and you can print or email them, or print those notices that can't be emailed. Some configuration needs to be done to allow your computer to access a mail server to send out the notices. See Tools-Options-Email configuration. Check with lex@lex.sk.ca for details or review the website at www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/lex1 H. Inventory 1. Select your sample file (Click M on the Search screen, and then Select Tools-Inventory. 2. Follow the prompt and start entering item barcodes. 3. Follow the buttons down the page for the most part. Inventories can be backed up or cleared. They can be printed for manual checking. 4. See our help website at www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/lex1 and search for inventory for more details. I. Import/Export features 1. Lexwin is an "open system" meaning that nothing is done to deny you use of your files within other established library systems. That means that the records you import to Lexwin are imported totally without loss or irreversible modification of data. You can import all your data in Lexwin today, and then in a few minutes export all the records in USMARC, ASCII, or delimited format (fields surrounded by quotation marks, separated by commas). These features with options are located in File-Input/Import and File-Save/Export. In import it is possible to receive ASCII or delimited files, and map them to MARC locations within Lexwin. Read about all this at our group website at www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/lex1. J. Pack and make global Changes Tools-Pack Global Changes is the command used to reorder and clean-up your database. When data is added or changed there is much material flagged for removal that is still present. Packing cleans out this material and re-builds the indexes. When data appears to be gone, it is usually a case of indexes being missing or corrupt. Select ( ) Make global changes, and click "Start Pack". Examine this screen to see what changes can be made in all records in your Lexwin program. If not leasing Lexwin for finding cataloguing, another single-justification is found in this feature. You can remove or add fields, or K. Security Features This is not necessary to read just to get the hang of Lexwin, but it is comforting to know if you are going to use the system intensively. a. When you pack a database the system makes a backup called loc.bak. If your pack is interrupted by a power failure or something, the system will not lose any records. b. Newly edited records are stored in lex.app. That means that you can find the changes you have made since the last backup. Last backup + Late changes = totally restored database. c. The automatic backups to the network can be lifesavers. Because old copies are not immediately erased by new ones, you can test out backups until you find the copy that works as anticipated. d. Only the current record being edited can be lost during a crash while editing is in progress. This minimizes risk. e. Because the database is kept as an integrated whole (you can read loc.fil with a word processor), there is minimum danger of corruption. Systems that distribute your data over many files require use of the database product itself to repair. Lexwin databases can be edited with other tools should the need be there to do that. This means that a Lexwin database can be manipulated into other usable forms by a "data wizard" that you employ. f. Lexwin’s efficient import/export procedures mean that it is very easy to manipulate data into a form needed by other systems. Lex Systems staff will make that process as easy as possible without argument.