How Updating Location Relationships Works

Frequently, a library serves an institution that has several different general divisions (that is, campuses or branches), each with its own local set of specific locations (that is, branch, department, or shelf). Usually, the LOCATION field in the bibliographic record stores the general location code, while the LOCATION fields in the attached records store the more specific locations. The relationship between the general locations in the bibliographic record and the specific locations in its attached records must be consistent; that is, if a particular location appears in an attached record, the corresponding general location should always be present in the bibliographic record.

You can synchronize these location relationships automatically, using the following functions:

When you run these functions, the system:

  1. Determines whether the location(s) in bibliographic records are in agreement with the locations in the attached records.

    The system uses the Campus/Branch Location Mapping file to map specific locations to general bibliographic locations. This file is maintained by your library. For more information, see the description of the EXAMINE location mapping table function.

    The system warns you if the Campus/Branch Location Mapping file is empty. If you update locations with an empty file or if the attached item's location is not defined in the Location Mapping file, the system loads the specific attached record location(s) directly into the bibliographic records.

  2. If the location codes are not in agreement, changes the bibliographic LOCATION to match the location in its attached records.

    If the attached records for any given bibliographic record belong to several different general locations, the system:

    • Sets the bibliographic record's LOCATION field to "MULTI".
    • Creates a LOCATIONS variable-length field in the bibliographic record containing the general location codes that map to the specific location codes in all attached records.
    Updated Locations Contributed to the INN-Reach Catalog

    If your library contributes records to an INN-Reach Catalog, the system automatically adds each updated bibliographic record to the record-loading queue. The record updates then undergo standard evaluation for contribution and loading and are transmitted to the Central Server as appropriate.

Note: