Cataloging Privileges

Last updated
Save as PDF
Share
1. Share
2. Tweet
3. Share

Contact Ex Libris to enable cataloging privileges for your institution.

Without enabling cataloging privileges, every cataloger with the appropriate roles can edit bibliographic and authority records. Cataloging privileges gives you the option to define a hierarchy for better control of the privilege to edit bibliographic and authority records. This functionality is handled through cataloging level code assignments in Resource Management.

When implementing a Network Zone, an administrator in the Network Zone can manage the cataloging level code assignments centrally and distribute these assignments to all the member institutions. For more information, see Centrally Managing Configuration Tables in a Network Zone.

When enabled, the following areas that deal with bibliographic and/or authority records are enhanced with this control of your records:

MD Editor
Metadata import (new records are imported with the lowest level)
Quick cataloging
Normalization/set management (batch job assignment of a code level to a set of records)

For institutions working with externally managed records, see Configuring Cataloging Levels for Contribution to Externally Managed Authorities.

Creating Cataloging Permission Levels

Use the following procedure to create cataloging permission levels.

To create cataloging permission levels:

Ensure that the Ex Libris staff has enabled cataloging permissions for your institution/consortium.
On the Cataloger Permission Level code table (Resource Management > Resource Configuration > Configuration Menu > Cataloging > Cataloger Permissions Level), use the Quick Add section to add levels.

Cataloger Permissions Level Code Table
When you are done, click Save.
In a collaborative network, once the Network Zone administrator has completed entering the cataloging permission levels, distribute the changes to the member institutions by clicking Save and Distribute. This submits a job to distribute these settings to the member institutions.

Network Zone Distributes Cataloging Permission Levels to the Member Institutions with Save and Distribute

If an institution implements cataloging privileges and then, subsequently, becomes a member of a Network Zone, the Network Zone is not able to Save and Distribute to that member.

Assigning Cataloging Permission Levels

After you have defined your cataloging permission levels, the appropriate permission level can be assigned to users.

To assign cataloging permission levels:

Access the user records that you want to update (Administration > User Management > Find and Manage Users).
Select Actions > Edit for the user record that you want to update. The User Details page appears.

Assign Cataloging Level to a User
Select the level is Cataloger Level.
Click Save.

Using Cataloging Permission Levels in the MD Editor

Once you have defined cataloging permission levels and assigned them to users, these characteristics appear in the MD Editor while users edit records.

To work with records in the MD Editor when cataloging permission levels have been implemented:

Open a bibliographic record in the MD Editor (Resource Management > Cataloging > Open Metadata Editor).

Cataloging Permission Levels in the MD Editor

The MD Editor displays the current cataloging level. Any user assigned an equal or higher value cataloging level can edit the record. In addition, the MD Editor provides the option to change the cataloging level for the record. Any cataloging level equal to or below that of the cataloging level assigned to the user can be set as the cataloging level for the record.

If the user’s cataloging permission level is lower than the cataloging level assigned to the record, the user can only view the record (see below).

User's Cataloging Permission Level Is Lower than the Cataloging Level Assigned to the Record

In a collaborative network, however, a user with a lower cataloging permission level than the cataloging level assigned to the record in the Network catalog can add and remove local fields (see below).

Add/Remove Local Fields from a Network Zone Member Institution

Adding/Editing a Local Field from a Network Zone Member Institution
Select a new cataloging level for the record from the drop-down list.

Cataloging Level Drop-Down List
Click Save. The current cataloging level of the record is updated to reflect your change.

Cataloging Level Changed

Searching for Records Using the Cataloging Level

The Alma repository advanced search options provides the indexed criteria for creating searches that use the cataloging levels that you have defined.

To search for records based on a cataloging level:

Open the Repository Search page (Resource Management > Search > Repository Search).
Click Advanced Search.
Click Add Conditions.
Select Cataloger Level from the list of conditions.

Cataloging Level Advanced Search
Click Add Conditions.
Select your cataloging level criteria.

Cataloging Level Search Criteria
Click Go. The search results display a list of records that have a cataloging level assignment matching the criteria that you selected.

Assigning Cataloging Levels to a Set of Records

Cataloging levels can easily be assigned to groups of bibliographic or authority records by using sets of records and running one of the following jobs:

Set Bib Records Cataloging Level
Set Authority Records Cataloging Level

See the relevant job in Running Manual Jobs on Defined Sets.

Setting Cataloging Level User Preferences

New for May!

With the cataloging_level_user_preferences customer parameter, you can define the default behavior for selecting levels with the Cataloging Permission Level drop-down list in the MD Editor. See cataloging_level_user_preferences for more information.