Detect Duplicates or Replace Bibliographic Records

You can check for duplicate bibliographic records and replace them with a new or existing record. You can also replace records even if they were not determined to be duplicates. When you save a bibliographic record, Polaris checks for duplicate records. If duplicates are found, the Replace/Check for Duplicates dialog appears and lists the duplicate records. If no duplicates are found, Polaris saves the bibliographic record.

If you attempt to replace a protected bibliographic record (the Do not overlay box is selected), the protected record that cannot be replaced appears in red in the Records to replace list. If you want to continue replacing the record, you can open it in the Bibliographic Record workform, clear the Do not overlay box, and save the record. Then, refresh the Replace/Check for Duplicates (Bibliographic Records) dialog. The record is displayed in black text.

To check for duplicate bibliographic records and replace them, or replace records that are not determined to be duplicates:

1. Open the Bibliographic Record workform.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Select File > Save, select the Save button, or press CTRL+S. If no duplicates are detected, the record is saved, and no additional message appears. If duplicates are detected, the Replace/Check For Duplicates dialog appears and lists the duplicate records.

• Select Tools > Replace/Check for duplicates, select , or press Ctrl+I. If duplicates are detected, the Replace/Check For Duplicates dialog lists them, including the reason they were determined to be duplicates. If no duplicates are detected, the Replace/Check For Duplicates dialog appears with the message: No duplicates were found. You can select records to replace with the add button above.

3. If the Replace/Check for Duplicates dialog appears, do one of the following:
   • Close the dialog if no duplicates were detected - Select Cancel.
   • Close the dialog if duplicates were detected - Select Continue Saving to save the duplicate record.
   • Open a record in the Records to replace list- Select the record or records, and select Open.

Tip:
If a bibliographic record has a status of Deleted, it cannot be added to the list of records to replace.

• Add records to the Records to replace list - Select  to open the Polaris Find Tool. Search for and select single or multiple bibliographic records or bibliographic record sets, right-click and choose Select. To see the records in a record set, right-click and select Open. When you select a record set, all the member records are added to the list.
• Remove records from the Records to replace list - Select the records to remove, and select .
• Replace the records displayed in the Records to replace list - Select Replace All. Or select specific records to replace using the Maintain control number column to select which of the Records to replace will have its control number retained, and select Replace Selected. Select Yes to confirm that you want to replace the record or records.

Notes:

• Records with a status of provisional are not eligible for this feature.
• This feature applies only when new records are being saved, not when two existing records in your database are suspected of being duplicates. In that situation, you must perform the duplicate detection and replace operation from the record whose control number you wish to retain.
• If the overlaid records include tags configured to be retained in the Bibliographic Tags to Retain/Delete policy table, these tags are copied to the new bibliographic record. See Related Information for more information on what gets saved in the retained record.

Related Information

• Records that cannot be added to the Records to Replace list:
  • Records with a Deleted status
  • Records linked to digital media in Polaris Fusion

• Setting deduplication rules - The rules that detect duplicates are applied using rules groups in the Bibliographic Deduplication database table or the Authority Deduplication table.

• Results of replacing records - When you choose to replace a record or records in the Records to replace list with the record displayed in the Bibliographic Record workform, the saved record has the following characteristics:
  • The selected or single control number of the existing records are retained.
  • Specific tags from overlaid records are retained - Tags that are configured to be retained in the Bibliographic Tags to Retain/Delete policy table are copied to the new bibliographic record.
  • Links from overlaid records are transferred to the newly saved record - If the duplicate records had links to other records, they are maintained in the new record, including links to:
    • hold requests
    • item records
    • item templates
    • authority records
    • selection list line items
    • selection lists
    • promotion records
    • purchase order line items
    • purchase orders
    • invoice line items
    • invoices
    • serial holdings records
    • standing order An order placed with a vendor or the publisher directly for all publications in a series, all volumes in a set, or all publications of a single publisher. parts
    • subscription records
    • record sets

  • Non-MARC settings are specified in the newly saved record - The Display in PAC setting and other non-MARC settings are not copied from the replaced records.

  • First available date is earliest in any of the records - The new bibliographic record’s first available date is the earliest first available date of any of the records, including those that were overlaid. This means that in some situations the creation date of the retained record is after the first available date.

  • Circulation counts increase - The Lifetime circulation count and Lifetime in-house circulation count are increased by the counts in the replaced records.

  • If the MARC validation immediately after bib overlay Cataloging profile is set to Yes, MARC coding is checked after records are overlaid. This setting also ensures that non-repeatable tags from the overlaid records do not accumulate in the new bibliographic record.

  • If the Check headings immediately after bib overlay Cataloging profile is set to Yes, headings are checked in the retained record. If any problems are detected with the headings, the Check headings assistant dialog appears.