Help Desk Routine Operations

Record Loading

The MOBIUS Help Desk does all the batch record loading for the MOBIUS member libraries.  In FY14-15, MOBIUS loaded over 93 million records, including authority, bibliographic, checkin, item, order, and patron records.

The MOBIUS Help Desk writes customized load profiles using specifications provided by the libraries.  Files of records are then compiled and transferred by member institutions to the MOBIUS dropbox on the secure copy server, Brazil.  These files are retrieved, preprocessed, and loaded into the local catalogs by MOBIUS staff or via Innovative’s Scheduler product.  The load statistics are forwarded via email to the libraries.

MOBIUS uses Innovative's Scheduler product to automate many types of processes, including routine record loads, record outputs, and create lists.  The use of Scheduler has streamlined the performance of routine tasks, such as loading patron records, and allows us to load patron records for our libraries on a daily basis.

Types of Record Loads

Authority:  MOBIUS contracts with Backstage Library Works for authority control.  Help Desk staff send bibliographic records to Backstage on a quarterly basis for all our member libraries.  The bibliographic records are processed using MARS automated authority control from Backstage and files of name, subject, genre, and uniform title authority records are returned and loaded into the local catalogs.

Bibliographic:  The MOBIUS Help Desk loads bibliographic records for print and electronic materials from a wide variety of vendors, including but not limited to Baker & Taylor, Coutts, Ebrary, Emery-Pratt, EBSCO, MARCIVE, Midwest Library Service, NAXOS, OCLC, Serials Solutions/ProQuest, and YBP.  The bibliographic records are loaded into the local catalogs along with accompanying item, order, or checkin records, according to the specifications outlined by the library.  

Patron:  MOBIUS loads patron records for over 60 member institutions.  Files of patron information are compiled by the member libraries and transferred to the dropbox on our secure copy server.  The files are retrieved, preprocessed, and loaded into the local systems.  Load statistics are forwarded via email to the libraries.  MOBIUS uses Innovative’s Scheduler product to automate as many of the patron loads as possible, allowing patron records to be loaded on a daily basis, or as often as needed. 

Routine Operations

The MOBIUS Help Desk oversees a wide variety of routine maintenance operations, which are conducted on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis.  These include outputting records from the local databases to send to various vendors for processing, running reports for the member libraries, and monitoring scripted processes on the servers.

Exporting Records

Authority Adds and Deletes:  Authority records that have been added or coded for deletion are compiled, exported, and sent to the authority control vendor (Backstage Library Works) to have the authority history file (a copy of the local catalog's authority file) updated.  The Help Desk uses Scheduler to export the records on a monthly basis for all the cluster catalogs.  Once confirmation is received from the vendor, MOBIUS staff update the added authority records and remove the deletes.

EBS (Electronic Batchload Service):  The Help Desk uses Scheduler to create review files of all items that are flagged to be sent to OCLC to have the library’s holdings code added or cancelled.  The records are exported from the local systems on a weekly basis and sent to OCLC for all participating institutions.  The Help Desk then updates the item records to show they were sent, and an OCLC report of records is forwarded to the participating libraries.

LHR (Local Holdings Records):  The Help Desk creates review files of new or updated checkin records that are flagged to have the LHR updated at OCLC.  The holdings records are exported from the local systems on a quarterly basis for all participating libraries and sent to OCLC.  The Help Desk then codes the checkin records to show the holdings were sent, and an OCLC report of records is forwarded to the participating libraries.

Other Routine Operations

Global Rearrange/Update:  All records attached to bibliographic records are rearranged alphabetically by location, and updated by synchronizing the locations of the attached records to locations in the bibliographic records.  This maintains the scope and organization of records.  The process to rearrange/update the records is scripted to run daily on each cluster server.  The Help Desk monitors the automated process and runs it manually if needed.

Headings Reports:  When a heading is added, changed, or deleted from a record, the system checks the normalized version of the heading and writes the information to the relevant report.  Help Desk staff generate and distribute headings reports for all member libraries on a weekly basis.  Additional reports are compiled for the entire cluster and distributed, usually on a rotational basis, for resolution.

Scope Authority Records:  Authority records do not automatically scope when headings are changed or new authority records are added to the database.  Scoping these records confirms whether holdings exist based on the patron’s search parameters, and provides “see” references.  The process to scope authorities is scripted to run daily on each cluster server.  The Help Desk monitors the automated process and runs it manually if needed.

YTD Rollover:  The Help Desk performs a year-to-date circulation rollover for the majority of the clusters.  The total in the YTD circulation field is rolled over into the last LYC (last year’s) circulation field and the LYC field is zeroed out in preparation for the new fiscal/statistical year.  The rollover may be done on January 1, July 1, or August 1, depending on the cluster.