[Koha-devel] [important] copyrightdate is not loaded into biblio table

[paul POULAIN]

Hi Stephen, & koha-devel.

for everybody :
this mail is about import of copyrightdate into Koha.
You can see the initial bug at 
http://bugs.koha.org/cgi-bin/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=514
Stephen pointed that copyrightdate was not loaded into Koha-db when 
importing MARC records (note that the 260c was imported into MARC-DB. 
The problem was that it was not transfered to koha-db (the DB that is 
used in many places where MARC is not interesting, like opac for example).

I thought it was a spydus problem, but I was wrong. 260c in MARC21 
contains "dates". It means it can contain : "copyright 1968, reedited 
1985, something-else 1995". (see 
http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/ecbdimpr.html#mrcb260)

The problem for importing is that copyrightdate is a *NUMBER* in 
koha-db. and "c1968, reedited 1985, something else 1995" is not really a 
number :-(

So, we have 2 solutions (both being easy to code) :
* modify the DB structure to have a char, and copyrightdate would be :  
"c1968, reedited 1985, something else 1995" in my sample. (con : Maybe a 
little too many info for OPAC ?)
* modify the import tool to extract the 1st "date" in the string (mean, 
the 1st time where 4 digits are found) : "1968" in my sample. (con : 
risk to choose a date that is not really a copyrightdate)

Which solution do readers of this list prefer ?

Stephen Hedges wrote:

>Paul -
>
>The beginning "c" stands for "copyright."  That's standard MARC21 cataloguing.  
>
>(This time we _did_ follow the rules!)  It's not a Sypdus problem, it's a 
>MARC21 problem -- and therefore a Koha problem.
>
>Stephen
>  
>
>>http://bugs.koha.org/cgi-bin/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=514
>>
>>In the sample you sended me, I see :
>>
>>260 0  _a[Mankato, Minn.] :
>>       _bThe Child's World,
>>       _cc1993.
>>So, the date in 260$c is : c1993.
>>which is not a date isn't it :-)
>>(note that it seems that EVERY date have a c at 
>>beginning and . at the end.
>>Sometimes, it's even worst :
>>260 0  _aSouth Yarmouth, MA :
>>       _bJohn Curley & Associates,
>>       _cc1926,1954.
>>In samples here : 
>>http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/ecbdimpr.htm
>>l#mrcb260
>>I read :
>>260 ##$aNew York, N.Y. :$bElsevier,$c1984.
>>
>>260 ##$a[S.l.] :$bInsight Press,$c1981.
>>The ending . is OK (and should be accepted by 
>>Koha.
>>The beginning c is a spydus creation.
>>
>>I mark the bug invalid.
>>    
>>
-- 
Paul POULAIN
Consultant indépendant en logiciels libres
responsable francophone de koha (SIGB libre http://www.koha-fr.org)