When a bookmark is created, it is possible that at that point in time, that the resource is not in the library catalog. When the resource is acquired and cataloged, the original bookmark is therefore not linked to the catalog and there may be a manual exercise to link the resource to the catalog. Alternatively, a bookmark may have been created manually in a way which does not link it to the catalog.
The Book Metadata Refresh is an administrative function which allows Talis Courseflow to identify books in the system which are not linked to the catalog (don't have a Library Catalog Number (LCN). By starting the Metadata Refresh Job, Talis Courseflow will attempt to link these books to your catalog by performing an ISBN search and updating the metadata for the books found in your library catalogue.
A user with appropriate permissions - likely a System Admin - can run a metadata refresh job at any time by selecting 'Book Metadata Refresh' from the Admin menu, then clicking 'Start Job'.
This is performed as a background job so that you can continue your activities in Talis Courseflow. The status of the job can be viewed by re-visiting the Book Metadata Refresh page or by going to the Review Jobs page.
The user who initiated the job will be notified by email when it is completed with a summary detailing the number of items that were linked and the number of items which remain unlinked. This will also include the number of errors experienced during the Book Metadata Refresh (the number of items we didn't get a response from the library catalogue).
Frequently Asked Questions
Q - Is there a post-refresh report?
A - There is no report of the list of items that have been successfully linked or not, you simply get a summary email to let you know the number that were linked or not linked. Once the job is complete you can use the All List Items report filtered to show books and chapters not in the library catalog to see what is outstanding.
Q - Will the metadata refresh update chapters?
A - The metadata refresh looks for any resource with an ISBN which does not have a Library Catalogue Number (LCN). This will also update chapters if they have been bookmarked correctly i.e. a chapter with an "is part of Book". The "is part of Book" will be updated, but the chapter information will be retained.
Q - As it's an ISBN search, it will in some cases find multiple results - how will Courseflow handle that? If this search is by Z39.50, does it just pick the first result returned?
A - The search is done by Z39.50 and it uses the first result.
Q - Does this process run on Bookmarks or on items on lists (or both!)?
A - The process runs on any item with an ISBN, so that means it will pick up items on lists as well as those in the bookmarks of any user.
Q - Are all occurrences on Lists automatically updated?
A - All occurrences of an item will be updated.
Q - With LCNs being added to the metadata across the tenancy, how are potential conflicts with live incremental edits managed?
A - The process works on the snapshot of the environment taken when the job was initiated. Updates will be made to everything in the snapshot regardless of live incremental updates. It's generally a good idea to run the refresh towards the end of the day.
Q - Once the job is running, what happens to new books not linked to the catalog, which are added to Talis Courseflow as Bookmarks/list items - is Courseflow working to a snapshot of the environment at the point that the job begins?
A - New items (not linked to the catalog) created / bookmarked once the snapshot has been taken will not be included in the update.
Q - How does Courseflow limit the volume of simultaneous look-up requests against the catalog to prevent overloading?
A - The process queues up each item as an individual job and the jobs are processed sequentially, in batches. We will be monitoring the average time taken to process each item and the responses we get from the Z39.50 service. The refresh has been built in such a way which will allow us to change the number of jobs per batch and to change the delay time between the batches.
Q - Can you confirm that the metadata refresh only checks and links 'books' but not 'book chapters'?
A - The metadata refresh looks for any resource with an ISBN which does not have a Library Catalog Number (LCN). If chapters have been bookmarked correctly - i.e. a chapter with an "is part of Book" - the "is part of Book" will be updated, but the chapter information will be retained.
Q - Will the metadata refresh remove any digitization links?
A - No, if there is an existing digitization link to an item that does not have an LCN, the book metadata refresh would link the LCN as part of the task and not change any other parts of the bookmark.