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OCLC Support

Modify and delete a record

Learn how to edit or delete any records in OLIB.

Modify records

If you have sufficient privileges you will be able to modify an existing record in the current domain.

This can be done in two ways using the Modify Record button icon_editrecord.gif

In record details

  1. After a search and obtaining a hit list, click on the relevant record to display the details.
  2. Click Modify Record to switch the record to modify mode
  3. OLIB re-draws the screen to show input fields, drop down boxes and search buttons etc.
  4. After editing the record click Save to save and close the record, or Cancel to abandon the changes.

In the hit list

  1. Perform a search and obtain a hit list of records.
  2. Click Modify record in the hit list.
  3. OLIB displays the full details of the record directly in modify mode, ready for editing.

OLIB Web contains the following types of editable fields:

Edit boxes

Edit box fields

This is a box that text can be edited in. To change the contents of an edit control, simply delete and add text. You can use the CTRL + C, CTRL + X, CTRL + V options to Cut and Paste if you wish, and to move information in from other applications. E.g. Users domain: Surname, Forename fields and Titles domain: Title field.

Drop down boxes

Drop down box values

This box is a list of data that you can select from by clicking the arrow at the right hand side, e.g. Titles- Media Type.

New record

New record link

In modify mode when you press the New link it takes you to an expanded layout. Simply click the link and enter data in the layout provided. This may contain one or more fields where data can be entered, e.g. Users- Address field. Enter data then click Save on completion to return you to the 'main' layout. This type of button allows a lot of information to be entered in a particular field without displaying all of it at once on the main layout.

To edit existing data in these fields, switch the record out of modify mode. In the relevant field, click on the data value to display the layout containing the full data. Switch the dependent record to modify mode, edit the data and save as usual.

List boxes and dependent searches

List box with dependent search

These list boxes are commonly used for repeatable fields. You can add new values to the list by clicking the Search link and searching existing values, e.g. Titles- Subjects field. Click Search in these fields and OLIB will display a new search window, known as a Dependent search window. This allows you to search for the information in the normal way, also using the filtering and sorting options if you wish. Normally truncated searching is available.

When you have found the value(s) needed to add to the current record you select the item, checking the box and click Insert to add to the current main record. (Insert and Continue allows you to insert a value and continue browsing the list for more values).

New Record in Context

If you do not find the required value in the dependent search window, and provided you have sufficient privileges, then you can use New Record. This creates a new value (record) and when you Save it automatically adds it to the list in the main record.

Actions

In some parts of OLIB, an 'Actions' drop down is available for a field when in modify mode. The drop down contains a list of options to choose from that carry out different functions for the data in your current field. For example in cataloguing, Titles: Availability the Actions drop down includes an option to Update copy category.

  1. Check the box next to a Copy record.
  2. Click the Actions drop down.
  3. Available Actions are displayed, e.g. Update copy shelf.
  4. Select the required Action to carry out that function.

Deleting values and records

To delete a value on a particular record, e.g. the Publisher on a Title record, select the check box next to the value, e.g. next to Publication and click the Delete link. This also deletes linked records where appropriate - for example in Titles:Availability, when you click Delete to remove the link between a Title and Copy record, OLIB also deletes the Copy record from the Copies table.

icon_delrecord.gif To delete an entire record, e.g. a User record, display the record details and click Delete Record. OLIB prompts you for confirmation before deleting the record.

  In the Titles domain hit list if you select the Title for deletion, then Delete Titles is available as an Action. However this should be used with caution as the record is deleted immediately without further prompting.

Re-ordering lists

It is possible to amend the order that values appear in some list boxes. Wherever this is possible the Up / Down links are active. For example you can re-order the list of Subject Headings in a Title record to indicate the most used first. Check the box for the value to be moved in the list and click Up or Down as required.

Spell checking

In OLIB Web any free text data entry fields can be spell checked by most web browsers (though not natively by IE). For example, Firefox automatically checks the spelling of words that you enter in text boxes containing more than one line. As soon as you finish typing a word, it is checked against the words in the installed dictionary. If the word is not found in the dictionary, it will be underlined in red.