export of Zotero citation to MARC format for import into Koha LMS

NYELPC

I have been trying various strategies to export of Zotero book and journal citations to MARC format for import into Koha Library Management System catalog. Since there is no Zotero MARC export format I tried to use intermediary programs such as Linux Bibutils (would not install), RefWorks, (only paid account exports) and Endnote.

The method I am considering is to export citations to MS Excel, then Excel export to MRK; then import to MARKedit program then export to Koha Library Management System MARC repository.

This seems very convoluted; anyone have a simpler solution?

fbennett

I'm not familiar with MARC tools, but have you tried the utilities listed here?

http://www.loc.gov/marc/marctools.html

MarcMaker seems like it might be useful, with a custom CSL style for export.

noksagt

Bibutils is multi-platform, so you can use it somewhere that isn't linux too.

aurimas

We really should offer MARC export though. Ticket created https://github.com/zotero/translators/issues/762

27point7

Using Zotero for managing acquisitons in library has been considered by some librarians in France.
Please look at this http://bibliotheques.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/export-zotero-en-unimarcxml-mise-a-jour/
and that
http://bibolabo.blogspot.fr/2011/04/les-acquisitions-avec-zotero.html

This translator could maybe be helpfull
https://gist.githubusercontent.com/Lully/5023140/raw/c9ace8cbf13b0a5d1097016a9b823de1269be644/UnimarcXML.js

Maybe there is a more recent version. In France, you can contact @jsicot and @lully1804 for those issues.

M. Saby
librarian

noksagt

Thanks for the link to the Unimarc XML translator. I hadn't seen that before, but it seems promising.

Another possible conversion path would be to use Zotero's MODS XML as an intermediate format and go to MARC using LoC-provided stylesheets:
http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/mods-conversions.html

zuphilip

Isn't this a MARCXML export translator, i.e. based on MARC21 instead of UNIMARC? At least all links are indicating it and the XML should validate aggainst http://www.loc.gov/standards/marcxml/schema/MARC21slim.xsd
Would we stop at MARCXML (example sandburg.xml) or go further to the ugly MARC record itself (example sandburg.mrc)?
I would prefer an independent translator over one which is based on MODS XML and the translator from Lully seems IMO a promising starting point for that.

27point7

Yes, it's a MARCXML export translator. I suppose it will be sufficient for most users.
Unfortunately Koha ILS (the development of which I took a very small part in) does not currently have the ability to import directly MARCXML, but only raw MARC records (i.e. encoded in iso 2709 standard). It's a flaw of the ILS, and I hope it will be fixed one day. Anyway there are tools for converting MARCXML to iso2709 (I'm thinking of the YAZ library).
The schema defined for MARCXML can be used by different "flavors" of MARC formats : UNIMARC (used in France, Portugal...), MARC21 (most of the world), NORMARC (Norway), etc.
The file in the gist link is made to fit UNIMARC flavor. For ex, you can see that ISBN is mapped against 010 MARC tag (while it would be 020 tag in MARC21).
So, several translators can be made for exporting in MARCXML, and their names and metadata must precise which flavor is concerned.

M. Saby

zuphilip

Thank you for the information. Yes, there are a lot of conversion tools, XSLT style sheets, etc. for MARC around, e.g. http://www.loc.gov/standards/marcxml/ Are there also UNIMARC to MARC21 and the other way conversion tools? I am not sure if such conversions should be possible in Zotero. Personally, I prefer MARC21 as a standard.

27point7

XSLT available on this site are MARC21 specific (for transforming MARC to MODS for ex), but the schema in itself is MARC-agnostic, even if its name contains "MARC21" http://www.loc.gov/standards/marcxml/schema/MARC21slim.xsd)
I've seen some XSLT for converting MARC21 to UNIMARC, but nothing public, only tools made for the specific needs of some libraries. Anyway, the issue here is not transforming MARC21 to UNIMARC or the opposite, it's mapping Zotero fields to MARC fields.
Of course you can make an export translator for MARC21 if it meets your needs (if you live in the USA, England, Spain, Germany...), but French, Portuguese, Italians will need to make something in UNIMARC, based on the work in the gist file, because this is the MARC standard in those countries.

If you want to adapt what was made for UNIMARC in the gist file, here are MARC21 specifications http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/

It is probably useless and impossible to make "perfect" MARC records from Zotero data but I'm sure it's possible to do something useful.

M. Saby

zuphilip

Yes, it is always possible to write an individual export translator for local use. But it could even make more sense to write an "official" MARC export translator which is then shipped to every zotero instance and can be maintained together. The best way, I can think of, to satisfy all needs is to include an option for the different MARC dialects, similar to the character encoding option for export translator. @aurimas et al.: Would this be possible?

noksagt

I would prefer an independent translator over one which is based on MODS XML.

Sure. This was mostly a suggestion for NYELPC, who have a more immediate need. The Zotero MODS translator is quite robust. The MODS->MARC21slim XML stylesheets seem reasonably well tested and maintained. Enough cataloguers have used them that there is some good knowledge on the conversion out there.

Other options NYELPC listed (such as bibutils) don't even export MARC.

Unfortunately Koha ILS (the development of which I took a very small part in) does not currently have the ability to import directly MARCXML, but only raw MARC records

I've used Koha, but only minimally. Some people report have reported better success in importing MARC XML than in trying to convert to binary MARC files when using bulkmarcimport.pl.

The best way, I can think of, to satisfy all needs is to include an option for the different MARC dialects, similar to the character encoding option for export translator.

Possible? Perhaps. Likely? No. Separate but similar dialects of exporters tend to have separate translators (see BibLaTeX and LaTeX, for example). This is partially because the contribution and maintenance of translators is easier/faster/more inviting. Most other MARC tools don't bother with multiple dialects--especially the free/open source ones that would have a similar development model. Finally, MARC is likely to be a less-used export format from Zotero & I can't imagine special interfaces/preferences being added to a MARC translator when they've been avoided for other translators.

aurimas

In the case of BibTeX/BibLaTeX life would be a whole lot easier for maintainers if they were just a single translator, but given the current export dialog this seemed like the best user experience. IMO at some point the export dialog will have to be made more flexible, but in the mean time we'll probably just focus on a single (most popular) MARC export format

27point7

(@nogsagt, for Koha, you are right! This command line script give ability to import MARCXML. It's only the graphic interface that is lacking this feature)

M. Saby