CUNY+ Translator Not Working

shivohum
I am trying to save records in the CUNY+ catalog which Zotero lists as using the Aleph translator.

URLs like these give an error in saving:

http://p83-apps.appl.cuny.edu.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/F/XAMG6HT8QVLI6YNR7CPQAA5ENKE8UDEP5B417QVHXF7639H24F-06188?func=find-e&adjacent=N&find_scan_code=FIND_WRD&request=corrections+franzen&Search=+Search+&local_base=U-CUN01

http://p83-apps.appl.cuny.edu.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/F/XAMG6HT8QVLI6YNR7CPQAA5ENKE8UDEP5B417QVHXF7639H24F-06964?func=full-set-set&set_number=017617&set_entry=000001&format=999

Thanks.
  • shivohum
    I should add that the above are CUNY+ proxies, and that, interestingly enough, if I try to access the main CUNY+ page at http://apps.appl.cuny.edu:83/F/?func=file&file_name=find-b , then Firefox with Zotero enabled is unable to access this page at all. But with Zotero disabled, the page displays fine.
  • emendelevich
    I am having the same problems. Please let me know what can be done!
  • adamsmith
    the error ID for multiple item scraping is:235126881
    single items give the same error:
    [JavaScript Error: "TypeError: newItem.title is undefined" {file: "file:///home/sebastian/.mozilla/firefox/wkxw8okh.default/zotero/translators/Library%20Catalog%20(Aleph).js" line: 0}]
  • benmiller314
    Just wanted to confirm that this is still out there: everything displays just fine, but Zotero can't pull the information. Is Aleph the correct translator to be using for the CUNY+ library catalog? I know very little about the architecture underlying our system, but I'll keep digging for more information on it.

    Meanwhile, here's a sample URL: http://p83-apps.appl.cuny.edu.ezproxy.gc.cuny.edu/F/D8JFPF23IEXAUDX9T7P56VX5U4B18SKQ65Y1D9DH2EYHERKCIA-05451?func=full-set-set&set_number=002343&set_entry=000002&format=999

    and an error code: 236747576
  • benmiller314
    Update: CUNY did indeed go to the Aleph 500 system, as of 2003; nothing newer than that in the library news page. I just checked another Aleph system, HOLLIS Classic at Harvard, and that seems to be working just fine. (Here's my test URL: http://lms01.harvard.edu/F/BHH84X5CJ4S5KUJD6VCXLQ5YX83F8UKT5YLGJ6NCYGN9GA2M2S-10037?func=full-set-set&set_number=059506&set_entry=000001&format=999 .)

    If Aleph has updated recently, but CUNY is still using an old version, would that throw off an up-to-date translator?
  • ajlyon
    For some reason, the Aleph translator, which goes to the MARC record screen to pull its data, is not able to find the rows of the table containing the data. In lines 85-102 of Library Catalog (Aleph).js, it tries several XPath expressions, of which the first one should match, but none do. It goes downhill from there-- the error TypeError: newItem.title is undefined is because the Zotero item is not populated by the MARC translator, since the Aleph translator is feeding it junk data.

    I worked on this a little this evening, and I can't get the Aleph translator to feed proper data to the MARC translator.
  • paulanus
    edited February 23, 2010
    CUNY+ is currently running Aleph 18 (while the most recent version is Aleph 20), but I doubt that this version difference is the root cause.
    One could have CUNY+ display the MARC screen directly (see: http://screencast.com/t/NjE2MDNjMTkt) and use the MARC translator to extract the data, but I am not sure whether the user can choose a different translator over what is preselected by Zotero. At least, I can't figure out a way to do this.
  • ajlyon
    As I said in my previous comment, Zotero is in fact going to the MARC screen. It fails while parsing the MARC data out of that page, so the MARC translator, which is called by the Aleph translator, never gets legitimate input.

    My suspicion is that this has something to do with how the CUNY library has modified the Aleph display. If you want to explore, try to modify the XPath expressions in lines 85-102 as I mentioned above.
  • paulanus
    Alan Kok at CUNY/CIS discovered that things work when you start with an ISBN. I think the difference is between "searching" and "browsing". Things work as long as you "browse" and you get an error message when you access a title via "search" only. Note that -- in a technical sense -- you browse when you use an ISBN -- at least the CUNY+ page says so.

    So, here is the work around (as in general, you don't have the ISBN for a specific title):
    1. Do your search and find a title of interest, obtain ISBN number by going to the "MARC label" display, see http://screencast.com/t/MTA3MjM3ZD
    2. Browse for this ISBN, redisplay the title, now you can extract the bibliographical details, see http://screencast.com/t/MTAwMzQwZG

    Not elegant and requiring a few extra clicks, but doable.

    However, what is the difference in the display of a title when located via ISBN (or any browse feature) compared to being located just via a search?? Why does the MARC extractor work in one approach, but not in the other??
  • alank81
    Folks,

    I have been in touch with Exlibris on this issue. They say they have gotten it to work, however for myself, I have been unsuccesful. Please make sure these 3 things are up-to-date. Firefox 3.6 Zotero 2.0.2 Java Console at least 6.0.17.

    Please if anyone has failure or success please post.
    Thanks

    Alan k
  • paulanus
    No, it's still the same: the work around (via ISBN) works, but the direct search fro title does not.

    Maybe Exlibris is referring to the fact that it works via ISBN?? What people understand "work" to mean is open to interpretation ....

    Now here is an example of the same title being displayed via ISBN
    http://apps.appl.cuny.edu:83/F/KL13X5PFN76PJPJVPC5VGAPNX39QJGHTYGRIKU6STFTD767QRX-02568?func=direct&doc_number=005015243
    and via name/title search:
    http://apps.appl.cuny.edu:83/F/KL13X5PFN76PJPJVPC5VGAPNX39QJGHTYGRIKU6STFTD767QRX-00226?func=full-set-set&set_number=037876&set_entry=000002&format=999

    It looks like you get a set doc (number 005015243) in the first (ISBN) case, and a "dynamically" created page in the second. So, my guess is that the translator was created based on this set doc structure, but cannot handle the apparently different structure of the "dynamic" page. Not sure whether this really has to be that way, but I have not had time to analyze the difference between the two pages. I think this should be the next step and maybe there is a way for Exlibris to make more similar so that the translator would work on both?
  • alank81
    Yes, I know.

    They retracted there statement. I'm working with OLS on something Exlibris suggested. Hopefully I will have more information tomorrow
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