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2025-07-10 Metadata Management Meeting notes

2025-07-10 Metadata Management Meeting notes

Meeting URL: https://zoom.us/j/527543204 . The meeting password can be found here.

 Date

Jul 10, 2025

Note taker

Katie Rahman

Recordings

https://recordings.openlibraryfoundation.org/folio/metadata-management-sig/

Discussion items

Item

Presenter

Notes

Item

Presenter

Notes

Announcements



Felix: I will be on summer holiday from 07/14 - 08/01. With Raegan also being absent for the summer, I would like to propose reducing the frequency of our meetings in July 2025 as follows:

  • 07/17: cancelled

  • 07/24: will take place with @Jana Freytag as convener

  • 07/31: cancelled

If you feel you need to meet on any of the other two dates, please let Jana know via Slack so she can organize the meeting.

If no one expresses concerns in the next couple of days, meetings on 7/17 and 7/31 will be cancelled.

If you have a meeting topic for 7/24, contact Jara on Slack.

Laura: Columbia went live with FOLIO. Library of Congress is live as well.

Felix: Several German libraries have gone live recently.

Update on the work to add an additional call number to the holdings and item record

@Anne Tanner

@André Hohmann

Documentation

Background

Links to the current Jira-UI-tickets:

Features

  • “Primary item (holding) call number” and “Additional item (holding) call number” headers

  • “Add additional call number” button

  • “Change with primary call number” button that allows you to change one of the additional call numbers to the primary call number. This avoids user errors involved with copy and pasting.

  • Ability to add up to 20 call numbers

  • For additional call numbers, the call number field is required to avoid empty fields.

  • When deleting additional call numbers, there is a pop-up to confirm your deletion.

  • In the Inventory app, you cannot browse by additional call number due to the complexity.

  • You can search for additional call numbers using the “All” index.

Questions and Comments

  • Jennifer: How will this affect label printing? A: Only the primary call number will be printed.

  • Laura and Charlotte complimented the UX design.

  • Charlotte: In FOLIO, there is only one title element and it is used everywhere in the system. This is blocking the graphical representation in multiple languages. We may investigate this model to solve this issue.

  • Felix: Looking at UXPROD-4334, is this planned work for Trillium? A: The backend is already developed, so, hopefully, it will be available in Trillium.

 

Role of the instance record in Inventory

@Laura E Daniels and the SIG

Instance Background

  • In the beginning, discussed elements we need in the instance metadata.

  • FOLIO Codex (in addition to Inventory or an aspect of Inventory) was discussed for a long time, but went in a different direction.

From MM SIG document (2018):

  • FOLIO Inventory: “Inventory is the FOLIO app where descriptive metadata from a variety sources can be presented in a uniform, abstracted form for management of the collection regardless of the format or content rules used to describe a resource.”

  • The purpose of Inventory is collection management.

  • “FOLIO Inventory interface is intended for staff discovery, not user-facing discovery.”

Updates to Instance model

  • ability to link to authorities

  • Subject type & source

  • Date type & range (date1/date2)

  • Source UI

Laura proposed the following question to the SIG: Because many libraries are using the instance record for patron discovery, do we still consider the Instance not to be a full description, and not intended to support public facing discovery?

Questions and Comments

  • Charlotte: Regarding the bibliographic description in the instance record, a library migrating to FOLIO observed that parts of the instance record were detailed and MARC oriented, and some were really rudimentary. They found it difficult to determine where to map data from their old ILS. New development has focused on a more detailed instance record because of requests by libraries.

  • Christie said, with regards to their own institution, they do not intend for the inventory instance to act as a surrogate for the full bibliographic record in a discovery system. However, inventory records with limited bibliographic description should be accessible for discovery.

  • Jennifer observed at her own institution that the instance record has enough MARC data that it confuses people. For example, there is confusion whether a staff member edited the instance or SRS record because some staff are confused by the structure. It is particularly confusing for those who are not catalogers.

  • Locate uses the bibliographic description in the instance record.

  • Christie: Is anyone else using Inventory only records in their discovery? A: Multiple libraries use the MARC record if the instance record has one, but if there isn’t a linked MARC record, a MARC record is generated on the fly for the instance. Also, institutions would prefer to use MARC when it is available. Otherwise, the FOLIO record should be used.

  • Laura: If it is true that an instance is needed for discovery, we need to do a comprehensive review of the instance data model.

  • Charlotte: Some libraries use a union catalog for discovery. We must keep in mind that radically changing inventory instance from being a hub may not be a solution for all.

  • Felix: Currently, inventory might have too many elements for us. There has been discussion whether we should hide empty fields in the view or edit mode in the past, but nothing is currently in development.

  • Charlotte: We should start with looking through the backlog of tickets regarding customization.

  • Jennifer: Maybe we should take a step back and explore the role of inventory, the instance and holdings.

It was suggested to make this a topic for a working meeting at WOLFcon, or, perhaps, a working group.

Felix asked hosting vendors for feedback from their customers regarding this topic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Product Council updates

Charlotte Whitt

https://folio-org.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AQCMQQ

Announcements: Congratulations to all new PC members. Transitions week on PC 7/17/2025. LoC went life on June 6, 2025. Columbia went live on July 7.

Jeremy gave an update on the work on Community Driven Development. Next goal commonalities with doc written by CC.

Update from Eureka Early Adopters: Index Data has Eureka up and running.

SIG conveners update: https://folio-org.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PC/pages/622723170 incl. list of liaisons.

Prioritization dashboard, and top five priorities listed by the SIGs: https://folio-org.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PC/pages/931070022 Caitlyn asked all SIGs to confirm their top 5 priorities. Next step will be to invite the SIG conveners to come and present their top 5 priorities which they advocate for. These meetings to be scheduled in September. Discussed what to do when the given SIG is in-active; e.g. the Data Export SIG. The PO and development team is now working on Bulk Edit.

FOLIO vision statement: Review and comment on the Product framework/vision document drafted by @kmarti. High level re-framing an older doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fl9WeoFHBzfb3PgivQYOTNCdg3IZCwxLd150Vj1cnvw/edit?tab=t.0. FOLIO’s target group is diverse - “FOLIO should work for your library”. Will talk more about the Framework/vision document at the PC’s shoulder meeting at WOLFcon.

 

BELA (Bulk Edit and Lists App)

Jennifer Eustis

No meeting this week.

Data Import SIG

Jennifer Eustis

https://folio-org.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DISIG/pages/994378695 . An issue was reported in terms of how the OCLC dedupe functionality is working. It is creating an additional $a in the same 035 MARC field when that subfield is NR.

Chat

17:31:45 Von Felix Hemme an Alle:
Agenda: https://folio-org.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AwA7QQ

17:33:32 Von Laura Daniels an Alle:
We should all take some summer holiday time
Lynne Fors, Ryan Tamares - Stanford Law Library, Christie Thomas (she/her):ߌ
André Hohmann (SLUB Dresden), Jennifer Eustis, Julie Darken:ߑ

17:33:40 Von Geoff Johnson an Alle:
No objections.

17:34:06 Von Lisa M English an Alle:
ߑ

17:34:43 Von Lloyd Chittenden (Marmot Library Network) an Alle:
Which days is it?

17:34:54 Von Lloyd Chittenden (Marmot Library Network) an Alle:
I see in the notes.

17:35:08 Von Lloyd Chittenden (Marmot Library Network) an Alle:
yes.

17:36:08 Von Magda Gad an Alle:
ߎ

17:44:33 Von Laura Daniels an Alle:
This is a nice model to have, which we might be able to leverage elsewhere in future. (The primary + additional, ability to change which is primary without having to re-enter data.)
Lynne Fors, Ryan Tamares - Stanford Law Library, Sheila Torres-Blank (she,her):➕

17:45:40 Von Khalilah (EBSCO) an Alle:
Replying to "This is a nice model to have, which we might be ab...":
Does not the contributor field support this same model?

17:46:15 Von Laura Daniels an Alle:
Replying to "This is a nice model to have, which we might be ab...":
I think it does, though it's slightly different with the "make primary" option

17:46:46 Von Jennifer Eustis an Alle:
I was wondering how this affects label printing. For instance what call number will be printer?

17:46:46 Von Laura Daniels an Alle:
Replying to "This is a nice model to have, which we might be ab...":
I'm thinking in cases where something wasn't repeatable and we want to make it repeatable, this model could be usefu

17:47:40 Von Sheila Torres-Blank (she,her) an Alle:
YAY! Have been waiting for a way to access our LC classed gov docs by Sudoc.
Laura Daniels, Ryan Tamares - Stanford Law Library:❤️

17:50:36 Von Laura Daniels an Alle:
Excellent point, Charlotte!
Charlotte Whitt:❤️

17:54:34 Von Charlotte Whitt an Alle:
PC’s FOLIO Vision document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fl9WeoFHBzfb3PgivQYOTNCdg3IZCwxLd150Vj1cnvw/edit?tab=t.0

17:54:46 Von Khalilah (EBSCO) an Alle:
Great job Anne and André!!!

17:55:16 Von André Hohmann (SLUB Dresden) an Alle:
Replying to "Great job Anne and André!!!":
Thank you so much!

17:59:53 Von Felix Hemme an Alle:
I think the addition of source URI is a good example for having a lightweight instance, because it allows us to point to the full bibliographic description.
Charlotte Whitt, Kalli Mathios:ߒ

18:01:21 Von Kalli Mathios an Alle:
I am curious to hear everyone’s thoughts and I’m curious what the Discovery SIG would say
Magda Gad, Lynne Fors, Charlotte Whitt:➕

18:07:58 Von Amanda Scott an Alle:
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Locate uses the Instance record for discovery, not the MARC or other source records.

18:08:00 Von Christie Thomas (she/her) an Alle:
Is anyone else using Inventory only records in their discovery? (Source = FOLIO) We are at Chicago.

18:08:19 Von Laura Daniels an Alle:
Replying to "Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I beli...":
that's what I believe to be true, and I'd love confirmation

18:08:37 Von Julie Darken an Alle:
Replying to "Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I beli...":
That is what we have found to be the case (GALILEO)

18:09:10 Von Julie Darken an Alle:
Replying to "Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I beli...":
If information is not mapped to the instance, it does not appear in Locate

18:09:25 Von Christie Thomas (she/her) an Alle:
Replying to "Is anyone else using Inventory only records in the...":
We use MARC when present, but if there is no MARC and the instance is not suppressed, a MARC record is generated on the fly for the instance record.

18:09:52 Von Amanda Scott an Alle:
Replying to "Is anyone else using Inventory only records in the...":
We do that, too.

18:10:17 Von Amanda Scott an Alle:
Replying to "Is anyone else using Inventory only records in the...":
(generating on the fly)

18:10:35 Von Alissa Hafele an Alle:
Replying to "Is anyone else using Inventory only records in the...":
At Stanford we do the same. We map the source=folio instances to MARC for discovery.

18:10:58 Von Sheila Torres-Blank (she,her) an Alle:
Which is why Locate is terrible for discovery… the Instance doesn’t correctly parse MARC data in a way that differentiates contributors from contained works and related works.
Julie Darken, Katie Rahman, Christie Thomas (she/her), Mary Aycock (she/her), Amanda Scott, Lynne Fors:ߑ

18:11:13 Von Felix Hemme an Alle:
Replying to "Is anyone else using Inventory only records in the...":
How is your experience or feedback from users about these records in Discovery? Are they lacking some data?

18:11:34 Von Jennifer Eustis an Alle:
It's EDS discovery that still takes the marc
Ryan Taylor, Sheila Torres-Blank (she,her):ߑ

18:11:54 Von Lynne Fors an Alle:
I heard that Locate has to be configured for certain MARC fields to show

18:11:59 Von Christie Thomas (she/her) an Alle:
We do not map all data that is possible to the instance. For instance, we do not map subjects from MARC to the instance.

18:13:38 Von Christine Schultz (EBSCO) an Alle:
Replying to "I heard that Locate has to be configured for certa...":
Maybe you are referring to the custom MARC-Instance mapping that would need to happen in FOLIO? I believe in order for MARC data to shown in the results, it needs to be mapped to a FOLIO instance field.

18:14:17 Von Laura Daniels an Alle:
In some areas, there are absolutely more elements than I want to use! (alternative title types for example)

18:14:33 Von Jennifer Eustis an Alle:
Especially in the item record for hiding stuff

18:15:02 Von Lynne Fors an Alle:
Replying to "I heard that Locate has to be configured for certa...":
No it was definitely for Locate that had to be done by hosting from a presentation on Locate at the EBSCO User Group 2025 in Providence in April

18:15:13 Von Sheila Torres-Blank (she,her) an Alle:
Replying to "I heard that Locate has to be configured for certa...":
Yes. But also EBSCO decides what to show in Locate. We haven’t been able to customize it locally.
Lynne Fors:ߒ

18:15:15 Von Christie Thomas (she/her) an Alle:
I agree with Felix. There are varying use cases for the role of the Inventory instance record and I would want to be sure that we are not excluding certain use cases. That said, it would be great to be able to customize our Inventory UI to fit our local approaches.
Felix Hemme:➕
Laura Daniels:ߒ

18:15:35 Von Charlotte Whitt an Alle:
Really good point Felix to remind us about the customization of the UI

18:16:50 Von Laura Daniels an Alle:
customization would be so helpful
Sheila Torres-Blank (she,her), Amanda Scott:➕

18:17:13 Von Alissa Hafele an Alle:
Replying to "Is anyone else using Inventory only records in the...":
We are typically doing this for brief order records so they are sparse for a time and then will eventually have a SRS record with full description added.
Felix Hemme:ߙ

18:18:02 Von Amanda Scott an Alle:
Replying to "Is anyone else using Inventory only records in the...":
That's mainly how we use it, I think.
Felix Hemme:ߙ

18:18:14 Von Laura Daniels an Alle:
holdings & items are a huge pain point with all the elements we don't use locally that confuse our staff

18:19:00 Von Christie Thomas (she/her) an Alle:
Replying to "Is anyone else using Inventory only records in the...":
We do the same for on order materials, Or for materials that are more temporary in nature. Puzzles, room keys, computer equipment, etc. Things that need a record for circulation and management, but do not need robust discovery enabled.
Felix Hemme:ߙ

18:20:14 Von Charlotte Whitt an Alle:
Several libraries have asked for having the Resource type a repeatable data element.

18:20:36 Von Lynne Fors an Alle:
The UI ticket we have for Inventory (hierarchical display) would help some pain in the disambiguation of holdings and items and clicking (hopefulyy)
Jennifer Eustis:ߒ

18:20:57 Von Anne Tanner - SLUB Dresden an Alle:
we also have special use cases in inventory, which we can not solve with custom fields alone - so customization would be pretty helpful for us as well

18:21:51 Von Laura Daniels an Alle:
this might be something we want to form a working group for?