Millennium record templates

Author: James Lake
Posted in: Systems

Background (About Templates)

A template comes into play every time a new record of (almost) any type is created, whether interactively on Millennium, through interactive export from OCLC, or through batch loading. Templates are necessary because every fixed field in every record type must have a valid value — even if the value is one meaning “we haven’t really thought about what value to assign here” (i.e., a default value or place-holder).

The template that is active at the time the record is created supplies a value for every fixed field that isn’t being given a specific value by whoever (or whatever process) is creating the record.

For new records created directly in the Millennium client, the template also determines the prompts that will be presented (if any), and it can supply default values for variable fields as well as for fixed fields.

You can see all the templates in Admin > Settings > Templates, as Trina mentions. What you can’t see is which templates are used for OCLC export and batch loading. This information isn’t available in the Millennium client at all, so we need to document it for ourselves

– Why use templates?

Templates have two main benefits:

– They save time – commonly needed fields already have the usual values supplied.

– They support consistency – data supplied by the template always appears in exactly the same form.

These benefits make templates an essential part of managing our large, complex workflow.  If you have any project or workflow that requires the same general fields and/or values for more than a dozen or two records, consider requesting a template to streamline this work.

Note that the interaction between the “copy” command (ie, copy item) the template you have set up is complex and not intuitive – check the results carefully to verify that all fields are as desired.

– How to request a template?

Submit an OskiCat helpdesk request (under “O” on the staff homepage) to request a template. You will need to provide the following information:

Short name/code (max 10 characters, no spaces or punctuation, can include upper/lower case)

Long name (max 24 characters, can include spaces as well as upper/lower case)

(Note: names can not be changed after the template is created)

Template contents:

Preferred: an existing record on which to base the template – this can be a temporary record you delete after the template is set up

Otherwise: A list of every fixed length field and what its value should be, and a list of every variable length field you want included, and if you want them to have any text supplied.

Prompts: Both fixed length fields and variable length fields can be set up to “prompt” the user to fill them in. This is recommended for any field that you want double checked at the time the record is created, or any variable length field that does not have complete text.

– How to make a template available to you?

  1. From the menu bar select: Admin | Settings | Record Templates
  2. Chose the type of record desired from Record Type field
    • Move the template of your choice from right column to left column by highlighting the template and clicking the arrow that points to the left.
  3. Repeat for additional record types (for example, reserves processing staff need both the Bib template reservebib Bib for course reserves as well as the item template reservitem Item for course reservef)
  4. Click SAVE SETTINGS, then OK.

– How to control if you are prompted for a template and if so, which ones?

  1. From the menu bar select: Admin | Settings | New Records
  2. The bottom half of the window shows the options for templates for each record type. The possible values that you can set by clicking in the drop down box next to each record type are:
    • – Prompt for template: This means prompt you the first time you create a new record for each time you login.  After that, continue automatically supplying that template you chose first for your whole session. The next time you login, you will be prompted again.
    • – Always prompt for template: This means you will be prompted for which template you want (from your list of preferred templates) EVERY time you create a new record.
    • – Any one specific template that you have set as one of your preferred templates in the process above. If you chose this option you will always be given this template with no choice offered of other templates, until you change this setting.
    • Click SAVE SETTINGS, then OK.
  3. You may need to play with changing these settings, logging off and back on, and creating some new records to get the feel for how these different options work. A good place to do this is on the training server.

– How to set up templates for student groups (ie, for a login other than your own which does not have the “save settings” authorization)?

Follow the instructions listed under “Macros – How to install in student logins” on the Macros how to page. Macros and other settings used for record templates use this same technique.

Legacy Data

Last updated date: 06/06/13
Author: C. Takaro
Responsible for Updates: Systems

Created: April 27, 2016
Last revised: December 1, 2016
Review date: None set

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