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Metadata Unit

Overlay

[Last revised:  Mar. 8, 2019 - GLJ]


Simple definition - Overlay : to cover (something) with a layer of another material.
*Keep in mind that you will be completely covering over the “face” of the old, unwanted Bib, giving it a facelift or makeover of sorts, but the old Bib ID# itself and any existing Holdings & Item records will remain intact & unchanged.

**Caution!  When/if planning to overlay a monograph record with a serial record (i.e. serializing a monograph), be sure to FIRST change the existing Leader – Bibliographic Level from m:Monograph to s:Serial!  We’ve discovered a glitch where you may not be able to search by journal title if mono record overlayed with serial record without first changing the Leader – Bibliographic Level to s:Serial.

Overlay Procedures

Overlay Existing Voyager Record with Better Bib Record from OCLC

  • Search for/bring in/download a better Bib record from OCLC by pressing F5
  • Import the Bib record into Voyager Cataloging:  Under the Record drop-down menu, select Import – From new file (Alt RPN)  (or Import – From previous file (Alt RPV) if already imported records from OCLC that day);  Select/double-click/open the OCLC.dat file that will have appeared on your Desktop, select the target OCLC record to view & click OK
  • Tile & compare the 2 Bib records (old/existing Bib and new/imported OCLC Bib)
  • Copy&paste any fields/info you wish to retain from the old/existing Bib into the new/imported Bib  (you may also want to print a copy of the old/existing Bib before you complete the overlay, just in case & to doublecheck after the overlay that everything you wished to retain was indeed retained)
  • ***NOTE:  When overlaying an old/existing Law Bib record, please be sure to retain the 035 local control number (035 | | | ‡9 uviclw##### ) as it identifies the original Law Bib# pre-Voyager merge
  • Maximize & bring new/imported Bib record to the forefront; edit/tidy/verify all fields and content now appears as you wish
  • Save new record to database (Ctrl B)
  • At this point, before the system actually saves the new record, ideally & in most cases, a Bibliographic Dedupe Detection box should pop up identifying the duplicate old/existing Bib record.  Ideally, this will identify just the one, same, old/existing Bib record that you were already intending to replace.  However, in some instances, there may be more than one record on the list. Verify & select the correct old/existing Bib record that you wish to replace.
  • At the bottom of the Dedupe Detection box, where it says “Replace/Merge using profile:”, change the default profile if needed (i.e. “Serials/Replace” for Serials) from the drop-down menu first, THEN click the “Replace/Merge using profile:” button.

  • Serials staff change the default profile to “Serials/Replace” from the drop-down menu first…

 

  • THEN click the “Replace/Merge using profile:” button

  • You will get a confirmation message saying that you’ve replaced the old/existing Bib record.  Note that the old/existing Bib ID# itself remains the same, and any Holdings records and Item records that were attached to the old/existing record remain intact and unchanged.
  • Click the “OK” button.
  • Do one final review to ensure that everything now appears as you wish & that everything you wished to retain was indeed retained (referring to the printout copy of the old/existing Bib, if you printed one)
  • Save new record to database (Ctrl B)
  • ***NOTE:  IF the Bibliographic Dedupe Detection box does NOT come up, then you will now have saved the new/imported Bib record as its own separate record with its own new Bib ID#.  Make note of this new Bib ID# and proceed with the alternate Overlay procedure as follows on the next page…

​Overlay Existing Bib Record with Another Existing Bib Record in Voyager

  • For those instances where the Bibliographic Dedupe Detection box does NOT automatically come up upon saving the better, newly imported OCLC Bib record, the alternate Overlay procedure is as follows:
  • (This is also the Overlay procedure to use for those instances where there are already multiple existing Bib records that you’ve found you now wish to amalgamate)
  • Ideally, to avoid unnecessary confusion, have only the pertinent 2 Bib records up in Voyager Cataloging.
  • Copy&paste any fields/info you wish to retain from the unwanted Bib into the desired/better Bib & be sure to Save your changes in the desired/better Bib! (you may also want to print a copy of the unwanted Bib before you complete the overlay, just in case & to double check after the overlay that everything you wished to retain was indeed retained) 
  • ***NOTE:  When overlaying an old/existing Law Bib record, please be sure to retain the 035 local control number (035 | | | ‡9 uviclw##### ) as it identifies the original Law Bib# pre-Voyager merge
  • Bring the unwanted (target bib) Bib record to the forefront.
  • Under the Record drop-down menu, select Overlay Bibliographic Records – Open & select the desired/better (source bib) Bib record (referred to as the “Source Bib”) that you wish to overlay/replace the unwanted Bib record (referred to as the “Target Bib”).

 

  • Be sure to check/tick the “Relink Mfhds and Items” and “Delete Source Bib” options BEFORE clicking the “Yes” button.
  • There will be NO confirmation message, but the screen will have flickered as the overlay occurred and the content of the desired/better Bib is all you will see now.  Under the Window drop-down menu, you will also see only the one record up, and it continues to have the old Bib ID#.  If you click on Hierarchy, you will see all the separate Holdings records & Item records have remained intact yet merged under the one Bib record.  And if you do a search for the Bib ID# that had been assigned to the newly imported Bib, you will not/should not find it. IF for some reason you DO find it, you might’ve accidentally not ticked “Delete Source Bib”, so then you’ll need to be sure to delete this accidental floating dup. Bib record.
  • Do one final review & Save new record to database (Ctrl B)
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This work by The University of Victoria Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License unless otherwise indicated when material has been used from other sources.