Cataloging

Cataloging new books / items in Librarika platform is super easy. We have tried our level best to keep the interface simplified, so that our librarians can spent more time with their daily duties instead of working with complex cataloging tools.

Our simplified cataloging interface enables novice user or people with very limited experience to manage their library perfectly. This makes Librarika a suitable platform for schools, small colleges, corporate offices, NGOs, personal libraries where dedicated skilled librarians are not always available.

Basics

Librarika organizes books under two logical entities: Media and Media Copy. When a new book is added to a library, master book information is added once as Media entity, we also call this as title or title record. Other related info is added to the Media Copy entity with reference to the parent Media entity. Then when another copy of the same book is added, only a new Media Copy entity is created with reference to the previous parent Media entity.

Media entity

Contains non-repeating fields such as title, ISBN, ISBN13, description, abstract, publisher, authors, cover photos etc.

Media Copy entity

Contains uniquely identifiable data such as accession number, copy number, location, branch as well as some other information related to the copy.

Relationship
        Media (Single)
              |
               --- Media Copies (Multiple)
Accession number:

When a new item is added to the catalog, the system assigns an auto-generated unique incremental accession number (numeric only) to each copy for your library. This accession number is then used to uniquely identify that specific copy during check-out / check-in / other system level activities.

System usually assigns this number starting from 1. The auto generation logic for new accession number is as below:

accession_number = max(accession_number) + 1

The same accession number field is used to generate barcode labels. If you plan to use barcode labels, you may need to start with a larger number (such as 100001) as some barcode scanner can not read small barcode properly.

The auto generation of accession number doesn't happen when you do bulk import of books or items. In this case, system saves the value of accession number field right from the provided source file without checking the uniqueness. This is to provide the flexibility to the librarians so that they can migrate their existing barcodes easily.

Tips: If you edit the accession number of a book copy to 100001 which is the max accession value in your library, then next accession will be 100002. You can use this tips to start your library's accession number from any arbritary position.

Tips: If your existing barcode labels are numeric digit then you can add them as accession number by following the instructions in custom barcode section.


Media

You can access all your catalog items along with their associated copy's information from the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section. Clicking on the View icon next to a Catalog Item will display the item detail containing all the copies. You can edit / modify / delete those information for this same detail page.

Media form identifiers

  • Here if you click on the Identifiers column then you can sort the catalog items using different types of identifier like isbn, isbn13, issn, asin and more.

Smart Add

Smart add method lets you easily add book's information from the Internet. All you need is the ISBN number to catalog a new book.

Note: Please treat this smart add method as an added feature, not a complete replacement of the Manual Add method.

To use this method, please follow the below steps:

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section.
  • Click on the Smart Add button.

    Media add form

  • Enter the ISBN number of the book you want to add to your catalog.

  • Accession number is an auto incremental number generated by our system. However, you can provide your own accession number if you want.
  • Select the branch under which the book to be added.
  • Specify a category under which the book to be added.
  • Click the Auto save button.
  • System will automatically find the matching book from the Internet and add to your catalog.
  • If successful, system will show a confirmation message with the title name and view page link.

Related information:

  • An associated Media copy record will also be created automatically. You are free to make any changes to the newly created copy record as you feel necessary.
  • Though Smart Add gets book information from various sources, there is no guarantee that it will get every book information from the Internet even if they are available.

Manual Add

You can add item using our Manual Add method. This method is suitable when you don't find book using the "Smart Add" method.

To use this method, please follow the below steps:

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section.
  • Click on the Manual Add button.
  • System will display the add new item form.

    Media add form

  • You can select different types of media according to your library preference from the Media Type dropdown menu.

    Media add form

    • Please select media type equals to Other while adding items that does not belong to any of the listed media types.
  • In Accession No field the accession number is auto generated by our system. However, you can enter your own or custom accession number if you want.

  • ASIN: In this field, please add the Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) assigned by Amazon.com for item identification. Only alphanumeric characters (10-character) are allowed for this field.
  • LCCN: This field is intended for libraries with cataloged collections in the Library of Congress.
  • DDC: Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is a system used by libraries to arrange books by subject. It is the most widely used system for organizing library collections worldwide.
  • OCLC: OCLC numbers are particularly useful for books and other bibliographic materials that do not have ISBNs. These numbers link WorldCat's records to local library system records by providing a common reference key for a record across libraries.
  • UPC: Short for Universal Product Code, UPC is a barcode symbology consisting of twelve numeric characters that uniquely identify a company's individual product. It is widely used in most countries.
  • In the Tags field you can add single or multiple tags for your library catalog item. When adding multiple tags, please use a comma separator between them.
  • Also, you can add more details of your book by clicking on the Detail tab.

    Media add form Media add form

  • Enter those information which you feel necessary. Only the Title field is mandatory.

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done.
  • The data will be saved and you will be redirect to the view detail page.
  • Add relevant author information from this view page. You can add multiple authors one by one.

An associated Media copy record will be created automatically. You are free to make any changes to the newly created copy record as you feel necessary.

Magazines

A magazine is a publication with a paper cover which contains articles, stories, photographs, and advertisements. In Librarika you can add your magazines by following some simple steps.

  • At first please go to the Manual Add section and then from the Media Type dropdown menu please select media type equals to Publications as shown below.

    Media type

  • Then from the Detail tab you can enter the volume number also.

  • After entering all necessary information regarding your magazine please click on the Submit button and it will be saved to your catalog.

Journals

In Librarika you can keep records of journals refer to several things. In its original meaning, it refers to a daily record of activities.

  • To add journals for your library please go to the Manual Add section and then from the Media Type dropdown menu please select media type equals to Journals as shown below.

    Media type

  • Then enter all the necessary information regarding your journal.

  • From the Journal tab you can add more details about your journal.

    Media add form

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done.

Thesis

Thesis is the most important or foundational idea of an argument, presentation, or piece of writing. You can can keep that thesis in Librarika by following some easy steps.

  • To add a thesis for your library please go to the Manual Add section and then from the Media Type dropdown menu please select media type equals to Thesis as shown below.

    Media type

  • Then enter all the necessary information regarding your thesis.

  • From the Thesis tab you can add more details as shown below.

    Media add form

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done.

Bulk Import

Librarika support bulk import of catalog items in CSV formats.

a. Prepare your data

  • Read our Import Items detail instructions article for more critical information.
  • See our sample google spread sheet at Sample Import Format.
  • Use google sheets to avoid UTF-8 encoding issue with Microsoft Excel. [Optional]
  • Download the final CSV file directly from google docs using File -> Download as -> Comma Separated Values (.csv) to avoid issues. [Optional]

b. Check List

Please make sure followings before you go ahead with importing your data:

  • Column names must be match exactly to our sample format.
  • Column names are case-sensitive.
  • The source file is in correct CSV format. Use google sheets if possible.
  • The CSV file is UTF-8 encoded. MS Excel produce non UTF-8 CSV file.
  • Numeric columns contain numeric values. No string characters in numeric fields.
  • Accession number values are unique and not empty.
  • As title and type fields are required so you must have to provide them.
  • Books with multiple copies have sequential copy number starting from 1.

c. Import Items

  1. Go to Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section.
  2. Click on Import Items button.
  3. Select data format, specify the CSV file and select branch name.
  4. Click on Submit button to submit the form.
  5. If everything is all right, you will see your data to review. Please review them carefully.
  6. Confirm the data and click on Save button.
  7. You will see a confirmation message with number of items added into the system.
  8. If same book is provided multiple times, only one media entity will be created. And for each book, a media copy record associated to that parent media record will be created.

Note: When you enter multiple copies of the same book, they will be added a copy under the same title, as a result you will see actual title counts in your catalog smaller than the number of records you have uploaded from the CSV file.

Edit Media

You can edit media information from the Catalog Items page.

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section.

  • Locate the item you want to edit from your catalog and click on the View icon on the right to that item.

    Media view detail

  • Then in the media view page click on the Edit Item button, the below form will appear with existing information.

    Media edit form

  • Do make necessary changes to the media entity.

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done and your changes will be saved.

Delete Media

You can delete a title from your catalog. Deleting a title will also delete all related copies, circulations and other dependent records. So, please be careful when you delete a title entry from your library.

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section.
  • Locate the item you want to delete from your catalog and click on the View icon on the right to that item.

    Media form

  • Click on the Delete this item? button and confirm your delete action.

    Media view form

  • The record will then be deleted from the library.


Media Copies

Media copy record contains information about each individual item in a library catalog. The information includes accession number, branch, copy number, location, included materials, binding etc as they may vary among copies of the same title.

Add Copy

To add a new copy to an existing media item, please follow the below steps:

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section.

  • Locate the item you want to add copy from your catalog and click on the Add Copy icon on the right to that item.

    Media form

  • The Add New Copy form will be displayed like below.

    Media copy add form

  • If you enter any remarks on the Remarks field then you will see a View Remarks link on the copies section. By clicking that link you can view your remarks.

  • Enter other necessary information regarding your copy.
  • Click on the Submit button when you are done
  • A new copy record will be created.

Add Multiple Copies

To add multiple copies at once to an existing media item, please follow the below steps:

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section.

  • Locate the item you want to add multiple copies from your catalog and click on the View icon on the right to that item.

    Media form

  • Navigate to the copies section at the bottom of the page and you can see an Add Multiple Copies button.

    Media copies section

  • Click on it and an Add Multiple Copies form will be appeared like below.

    Media copies section

  • Please enter the number of copies that you wanted to add in the No of Copies field.

  • The Copy from field is the copy number that you want to start to add.
  • Enter other information regarding your copies.
  • Click on the Submit button when you are done
  • All your new copies record will be created.

Edit Copy

You can edit media copy information, change accession number, change branch, enable / disable circulation, published and active status flags, etc for a specific copy from the Catalog Items page.

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section.

  • Locate the item you want to edit from your catalog and click on the View icon on the right to that item.

    Media form

  • Navigate to the copies section at the bottom of the page and you can see an Edit icon on right to that specific copy.

    Media copies section

  • Click on it and an Edit Copy form will be appeared like below.

    Media copy edit form

  • Do make necessary changes.

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done and your changes will be saved.

Change Accession Number

To change accession number, please follow the instructions in the Edit Copy section mentioned above. Please remember that, accession number must be unique among all copies of your library. If you plan to use barcode labels, it is better to have a larger 6 to 8 digits long accession number for better scanning performance.

Delete copy

You can delete an individual copy from your catalog. This will also delete all related circulations and other dependent records specific to that copy. So, please be careful when you delete a copy from your library.

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section.
  • Locate the item you want to delete from your catalog and click on the View icon on the right to that item.

    Media form

  • Navigate to the copies section at the bottom of the page.

  • Click on the Delete icon on right to that copy and confirm your delete action.

    Media copies section

  • The copy entity will then be deleted from the library.

Note: Instead of deleting a copy from your library, it is better to make it inactive. This will ensure that all reference to related circulation records will be preserved.


E-Books

You can upload one or more pdf or e-pub files for each of your e-book item in your catalog. In order to upload e-books, you must have e-book subscription enabled. To learn more about e-book hosting please visit at https://librarika.com/spages/faq#ebooks

Add E-Book

To add a new e-book, please follow the below steps:

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Catalog Items section.
  • Click on the Manual Add button and system will display the add new media form. Now select media type equals to E-Books from the dropdown menu.

    Manual add form

  • Enter title and other information about the e-book item and click the Submit button once you are done.

  • A new e-book item will be added to the catalog and you will be redirected to the item detail page.
  • Now scroll down to the E-Books section of the detail page and click on Upload E-book button to upload new pdf or e-pub file.

    E-book section in item detail page.

  • An Upload E-Book form will be appeared like below.

    Upload e-book form

  • Once uploaded, your item will be available in the OPAC.

Note: Please make sure that you have enough copyright to share these e-book files with others.


Authors

You can add an author (also known as a writer) of your catalog items from Authors section. Using this section you can add, view, edit or delete an author.

To use this section, please follow the below steps:

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Authors section.
  • Authors form will be displayed like below.

    Catalogs authors form

  • Click on the New Author button.

  • An add new author form will be appeared like below.

    Catalogs add author form

  • Enter necessary information regarding the author. Only nickname, name and country fields are mandatory.

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done.
  • A new author record will be created.

Edit Author

You can edit an author information from Authors section.

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Authors section.

  • Locate the author you want to edit from authors section and click on the Edit icon on the right to that author.

  • Then the below form will appear with existing information.

    Catalogs edit author form

  • Do make necessary changes to the author entity.

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done and your changes will be saved.

Delete Author

You can delete an author from your library catalog in two ways. Either you can delete it from the Authors section where you can see a delete icon on the next to that author which you want to delete. Or, you can go to the Edit Author section and the edit author form will be displayed with a button named Delete on the top of the section. Click on it and confirm your delete action.


Publishers

You can add a publisher of your catalog items from our Publishers section. Using this section you can handle all the publishers with their necessary information.

To use this section, please follow the below steps:

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Publishers section.
  • Publishers form will be displayed like below.

    Catalogs publisher form

  • Click on the New Publisher button.

  • An add new publisher form will be appeared like below.

    Catalogs add publisher form

  • Enter necessary information regarding your publisher. Only the name and country fields are mandatory.

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done.
  • A new publisher record will be created.

Edit Publisher

You can edit publisher information from Publishers section.

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Publishers section.

  • Locate the publisher you want to edit from publisher section and click on the Edit icon on the right to that publisher.

  • Then the below form will appear with existing information.

    Catalogs edit publisher form

  • Do make necessary changes to the publisher entity.

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done and your changes will be saved.

Delete Publisher

You can delete a publisher from your library catalog in two ways. Either you can delete it from the Publishers section where you can see a delete icon on the next to that publisher which you want to delete. Or, you can go to the Edit Publisher section and the edit publisher form will be displayed with a button named Delete on the top of the section. Click on it and confirm your delete action.


Categories

Categories is the section where you can categorize all your library items. From this section you can also find out how many items are available under each of your category.

To use this section, please follow the below steps:

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Categories section.
  • Categories form will be displayed like below.

    Catalogs category form

  • If you click on the View icon then you can see all the details about your category.

  • Click on the New Category button.
  • An add new category form will be appeared like below.

    Catalogs add category form

  • Enter necessary information regarding your category.

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done.
  • A new category record will be created.

Edit Category

You can edit category information from Categories section.

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Categories section.

  • Locate the category you want to edit from categories section and click on the Edit icon on the right to that category.

  • Then the below form will appear with existing information.

    Catalogs edit category form

  • Do make necessary changes to the category entity.

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done and your changes will be saved.

Delete Category

You can delete a category from your library catalog in two ways. Either you can delete it from the Categories section where you can see a delete icon on the next to that category which you want to delete. Or, you can go to the Edit Category section and in the edit category page you can see a Delete button on the top of this page. Click on it and confirm your delete action.


Tags

Tags is the section where you can view all the tag of your library catalog that you have added while adding your items. You can also check under how many catalog items you have added those tags.

To use this section, please follow the below steps:

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Tags section.
  • The tags form will be displayed like below.

    Catalogs tag form

  • If you click on the View icon then you can see all the details about your tag.

    Catalogs view tag form

Edit Tag

You can edit tag information from Tags section.

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Tags section.

  • Locate the tag that you want to edit from tags section and click on the Edit icon on the right to that tag.

  • Then the below form will appear with existing information.

    Catalogs edit category form

  • Do make necessary changes to the tag entity.

  • Click on the Submit button when you are done and your changes will be saved.

Delete Tag

You can not delete any tag from your library as it has catalog items under it. However, if you want to remove tag from a specific item then go to the Edit Media section and remove it from Tags field and click on the submit button.


Reviews

Reviews is the section where your library members can post a review on different library items according to their choice. For posting a review your library member need to log in first.

To use this section, please follow the below steps:

  • Please go to the Dashboard -> Catalogs -> Reviews section.
  • The reviews form will be displayed like below.

    Catalogs review form

  • If you want to remove review from your catalog items then click on the Delete icon on the right to that review.