RDS@UF: Batch Downloading OCLC Records

Updated August 2019 by Jorge Gonzalez and Gerald Langford

Batch Downloading OCLC Records

Step 1: Input file

• If the OCLC numbers are in a .txt file, save the file to a location on your computer.
• If the OCLC numbers are in an Excel spreadsheet, open the spreadsheet, copy/paste the numbers into Notepad, and save as a .txt file to a location on your computer. 
• If the OCLC numbers need to be deduped first, highlight the column in Excel (copy to Excel if the original file was in Notepad), click the "Data" tab, then click "Remove Duplicates".

Step 2: Output file

• Choose “File” from Connexion’s top menu and scan down to “Local File Manager”

• Select by double clicking on the file you want to save the records to.  If necessary, click “Create file” to create a new file location.

• Choose “Tools” from Connexion’s top menu and scan down to “Options”

• Click the “Batch” tab
  • Click the box that says “Bibliographic Record Export” under “Perform local actions in batch”
  • Click “Apply”
     
• Click the “Export” tab
  • If you have already created an export file, highlight your file location
  • Otherwise, create a blank text file with Notepad; name the file with a .dat extension.
  • Click on "Create"
  • In "New Export Destination" box, "File" should be chosen; click "OK"
  • Navigate to the .dat file you created; click "Open"
  • Click "OK"
  • Click the button that says “Record Characteristics…”
  • On the left side, change “Character set” to “UTF-8 Unicode” and click “OK”
  • Click “Apply” at the bottom of the “Options” box; when the hourglass goes away, click “Close”

• Choose “Batch” from Connexion’s top menu and scan down to “Enter Bibliographic Batch Search Keys”

• Select the location of the local OCLC save file from the top drop-down menu
• Select default index “OCLC Number (no:)” from the middle drop-down menu
• Click the “Import” button from the right side menu.  Browse to the .txt file you saved.  You should get a dialog box asking if you want to delete your original file.  Click “No” in case you need to use this file again, otherwise, it will delete the .txt file.  All of the records should now appear in the large box, each on its own line with “no:” in front of the OCLC number.
• Click “Save” and then “Close”

• Choose “Batch” from Connexion’s top menu and scan down to “Process Batch”

• Click the location of the local OCLC save file
• Click “Online searches” under “Process”
• Click “OK”
• Wait for records to be processed
• Make a note of any unsuccessful searches
• Close Batch Search Report

• Choose “Cataloging” from Connexion’s top menu and scan down to “Search”

• Click on “Local Save File…”
• Click “OK”
• To select all the records, with the first row highlighted, scroll down to the last row, press the Shift key and click the last row.
• Click the “Export” button to "mark" the records for export.

Choose “Batch” from Connexion’s top menu and scan down to “Process Batch”

• Click the location of the local OCLC save file
• Click "Process" click “Exports”
• Click “OK”
• You will be asked whether you want to overwrite what is in the .dat file you created or append to it
• Click the appropriate button
• Wait for records to be processed
• Make a note of any unsuccessful searches
• Close Batch Export Report

Step 3: Post-processing

• Choose “Tools” from Connexion’s top menu and scan down to “Options”

• Click the “Batch” tab
  • Unclick the box that says “Bibliographic Record Export” under “Perform local actions in batch”
  • Click “Apply”
     
• Click the “Export” tab and highlight the file location you used above
  • Click the button that says “Record Characteristics…” 
  • On the left side, change “Character set” to “MARC-8” and click “OK”
  • Click “Apply” at the bottom of the “Options” box; when the hourglass goes away, click “Close”