[DCRM-L] barcode program

[Christine DeZelar-Tiedman]

At the MASC discussion group at ALA, I mentioned that we use a macro 
to create acid-free book streamers with a barcode printed on them for 
our special collections materials. There was some interest from the 
group, so I thought I'd describe in a little more detail what our macro does.

Using MacroExpress with our Aleph500 system (we're on version 18, but 
we've been using the same program only slightly modified since we 
went up on version 14 five years ago), the macro captures information 
from the catalog record and deposits it in an Access database. The 
database has separate fields for Aleph system ID, collection name, 
call number, volume or issue numbering, copy number, main entry (1XX) 
and title (245). At the same time, the macro pulls a barcode number 
from a list stored in an Excel spreadsheet and adds it to the 
database record. The data is then used to generate a Report, in the 
form of streamers that have the barcode at the top and the other 
information formatted below. Four streamers are printed per 8 1/2 by 
11" page. Our tech. person designed a similar program for our NOTIS 
system using Visual Basic before we converted to Aleph, so I would 
expect the same idea is transferrable to other library systems.

The programmer, Michael Johnson, has agreed to share the program or 
consult with others interested in adapting something similar. You can 
contact him at m-john1 at umn.edu.

Christine DeZelar-Tiedman
Archives and Special Collections Catalog Librarian
University of Minnesota Libraries
160 Wilson Library                      (612) 625-0381 PH
309 19th Ave. S.                        (612) 625-3428 FAX
Minneapolis, MN 55455           dezel002 at tc.umn.edu