Library of Congress Download Guide

This document contains instructions for downloading MARC records from the Library of Congress Online Catalog. After you download the records, you can import them into MARC Magician or your library automation system.

Step 1: Create a folder for your downloaded records

Although this step is not required, it is usually helpful to create a folder for the records you are going to download. Eventually, you will be importing the records into MARC Magician or your library automation system. Storing them in one folder makes them easier to keep track of.

1. Double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop. Double-click the C: drive.
2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder.
3. The folder appears with the name New Folder highlighted. Type lcmarc and press Enter.

Step 2: Find the record you want to download

The next step is to visit the Library of Congress Online Catalog and find the record you need.

1. Go to http://catalog.loc.gov in your browser.
   
   
   
2. Select a search method, Basic Search or Guided Search.
   
   Basic Search
   This method provides the most predictable results for the most common types of searches.
   
   Guided Search
   This method is helpful if you are looking for specific items but do not know the initial words of a title or a person's complete name, or if you want to search a particular index (for example, ISBN). You can also use this method to combine or exclude search words or phrases.
   
   The Basic Search screen looks like this:
   
   
   
3. Choose the index you want to search by (Title, Author, Subject, etc.).
   
4. Enter your search word or phrase in the Search Text box, and then click Search.
   
   A successful search will result in one of the following: a Titles List, a Headings List, or a Single-Record Display.

Titles List

If your search returns more than one title, you will see a titles list:

#	Title	Name: Main Author, Creator, etc.	Full Title	Date
1	Dr. Seuss	Dr. Seuss	Gerald McBoing Boing/Dr. Seuss, [edited by] Kate Klimo	2000
2	Dr. Seuss	Dr. Seuss	Green eggs and ham with fabulous flaps and peel-off stickers/Dr. Seuss	2001
3	Dr. Seuss	Dr. Seuss	Hop on pop-up.Dr. Seuss	2002

Each row of the display includes a brief description for a single title in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. You can view the single-record display for any title by clicking the hyperlinks.

Headings List

If you do a subject or name search, you might see a headings list:

The Titles column shows the number of catalog records with the subject or name you specified. If there is one title, click to see a single-record display. If there are several titles, click to see a titles list.

Single-Record Display
If only one title is found, you will see a single-record display:

The single-record display has four display modes: Brief Record, Subjects/Content, Full Record, and MARC Tags. Each mode shows a different view of the same MARC record. It does not matter which display mode you are in when you save the record.

Step 3: Save in MARC format

Now that you have located the record you want, the next step is to save it in MARC format.

1. If you are in a Titles List, you can mark individual titles by selecting the check box next to each title you want. To download the selected titles, under Which Records?, choose MARKED--this screen. To download all of the titles in the list, choose ALL--this screen. If you are in the single-record display, only the current record will be downloaded.
   
2. Under Which Format?, choose MARC (save only).
   
3. Click Print or Save Search Results. A new screen will display what looks like a long string of numbers and letters.
   
   Note: Due to a problem in the current version of the software the Library is using for its Online Catalog, some users get a message that says Your Email request failed! when attempting to save records in MARC format -- even though they are saving, not emailing. Currently the only workarounds are to use an earlier browser version (for Windows, Netscape 4.7, Internet Explore 5.x), or to save the MARC records using a Z39.50 client.
   
   
   
4. On the browser's File menu, click Save As.
   
5. In the Save in box, select the C: drive. The contents of the drive are displayed in the large white box. You should see your lcmarc folder listed along with the other folders on the C: drive. Double-click the lcmarc folder to open it.
   
   
   
6. In the File name box, type a name for the file. You can name the file anything you like, but it is usually wise to name the file something related to the title. If Microsoft Internet Explorer is your browser, DO NOT TYPE A FILE NAME EXTENSION (.txt will be added automatically). If Netscape Navigator is your browser, type an extension to indicate that the file is in MARC format. Recommended extensions are .mrc or .001.
   
7. In the Save as type box, if Microsoft Internet Explorer is your browser, choose Text File (*.txt). If Netscape Navigator is your browser, choose All Files (*.*).
   
8. Click Save.
   
   After the record has been saved, you can begin another search or you can exit your browser.

Step 4: Import into MARC Magician or your library automation system

The following instructions explain how to import your records into MARC Magician . For instructions on importing into another system, see the documentation that came with that system

1. Start or switch to MARC Magician .
   
2. On the File menu, click Import Records.
   
   
   
3. In the Look in list, select the C: drive.
   
4. The contents of the drive are displayed in the large white box. You should see your lcmarc folder listed along with the other folders on the C: drive. Double-click the lcmarc folder to open it.
   
5. If you don’t see your file, it may be because a) you need to scroll over to the right, or b) the list is only showing files that have a certain name type. To see all files, in the Files of type list, select All files.
   
6. Click the file containing the record(s).
   
   

   Note: You can select several files and import them into MARC Magician all at once. To select multiple files, press the Ctrl key and hold it down. One by one, click each file you want to import. (If you accidentally click a file you don’t want, just click it again to clear it.) Release the Ctrl key. To select a block of consecutive files, click the first file in the block. Press the Shift key and hold it down. Click the last file in the block. Release the Shift key. To select all files in this location, click on any file. Press Ctrl + A. The selected files will appear in the File name box.

7. Click Import to begin importing. A dialog box shows the progress of the import.
   
8. When importing is complete, another dialog box appears. This one shows how many records were imported and how many errors were corrected during importing. Click OK to close the dialog box. The imported records now appear in the Master List and can be edited using MARC Magician .
   
   Note: After you have successfully imported the records into your library automation system, you should empty your lcmarc folder. This will prevent you from accidentally importing the same records again.

Note: The Library of Congress records have various 9XX fields in them that contain internal Library of Congress holdings information. It is a good idea to remove these fields using your cataloging program. If you have MARC Magician , you can use the Delete Fields global editing command to do this.

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