Need help migrating collection from Destiny to LT

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Need help migrating collection from Destiny to LT

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1bbbsd
maj 5, 2017, 12:10 pm

Hi, I'm brand new to this site. I just enrolled with LibraryThing and became a lifetime member. I want to move our school's library collection from Follett Destiny to LT. I am wondering if any of you have done that successfully. I exported the records from Destiny, but the file is too large to import into LT. I am not sure how to do it in smaller chunks. I did a search for "Destiny" in this forum but didn't find much. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!
Jim

2mamzel
Redigerat: maj 5, 2017, 12:32 pm

Just curious - why? We have used Destiny in my school district for library and textbooks for many years. If you are losing the support, that's a major issue! I have had a personal account with LT for many years and I use this system to note which books from the school library I have read and reviewed for my own purposes. I don't know if LTfL has the means to keep histories of titles, circulation, inventory, etc.

3bbbsd
maj 9, 2017, 2:50 pm

Hi Mamzel. Right now Destiny is running on a virtual machine, and I don't think I have a way to migrate it from that virtual windows machine to the Mac Mini on the librarian's desk. The district hasn't been keeping up with the support and they are about 3.5 versions back. To get caught back up will be more money than they want to invest since they no longer have a librarian and just have a volunteer shelving books and helping with checkin/out.

It looks like there is an inexpensive option called TinyCat that integrates with LT to handle patron accounts, circulation, etc. There is a cost for that, but it's quite a bit less than Destiny so I think the school would swing for it.

4lorannen
maj 9, 2017, 3:14 pm

>3 bbbsd: TinyCat might, indeed, work well for you! I'm not familiar with Destiny's export options, but your best results are likely if you can get your records exported into MARC format, if you haven't already. We've got a dedicated MARC import feature here: https://www.librarything.com/more/import.

If that doesn't do the trick, or if we can be of further assistance, please feel free to email us! tinycat@librarything.com

5kristilabrie
maj 9, 2017, 8:23 pm

>1 bbbsd: Hi Jim! I wanted to report back to you, to say that timspalding (LT's owner & main developer) just expanded the file limit for Universal and MARC Imports to 20MB. I'm going to test out your import to make sure everything goes through and then follow up with you via email, so you shouldn't need to split up your previous import file. I'll let you know if I have any questions—and please don't hesitate to reach out in the meantime.

6mamzel
maj 10, 2017, 12:59 pm

>3 bbbsd: they no longer have a librarian
My heart breaks for you.
In my district they just did away with the last two teacher-librarian positions. There are full time clerks in the middle and high schools (we handle textbooks and computers on top of library duties) and part time clerks in the elementary schools but we are lessened by the loss. We use Destiny for library and textbooks.

Staffing the library with volunteers may violate union regulations. It's the same as if aides took over teaching positions or volunteers staffed the office. While certainly well-meaning, volunteers are not trained and the library and its patrons will suffer. There is more than checkin/checkout to running a library. I applaud your dedication and understand you are doing it for the kids but please remember you are taking place of a paid person and enabling the decision to do away with proper library support.

7Hope_H
maj 10, 2017, 7:50 pm

>6I Sadly, this happening more and more. I am considering retirement next year, but I am afraid they will replace my position with an associate.

I do wish Destiny charged per child for support, rather than a flat fee per building.