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Home > Minerva > Cataloging > How To's > Perform Basic GUI Cat Skills

How to Perform Basic GUI Cat Skills

  1. Maximize editing windows to better edit record, but close windows when done. Beware of multiple windows left open.
  2. Use the Tile Vertically icon to compare bib records easily.
  3. Learn how to drag and drop item records from one bib record to another.
  4. Remember to save changes.  The system will usually ask if you attempt to exit a record without saving, but it is too easy to say no and regret it later.
  5. Learn how to drag and drop fields within a record and between records -- a technique distinctly different from that used in moving item records.  See How to Drag and Drop in GUI Cat for details.
  6. Close the program when you are through.  Leaving it open and unused for hours at a time will often result in a telecommunications timeout and you will have to exit and restart the software anyway.
  7. Use the MARC aids available under the Tools menu item to confirm proper MARC practice in the current bib record.
  8. In some GUI Cat screens, some display elements do not change as one would expect after you have saved a change.  For example, a newly created and saved item record will not appear on the Item Summary page unless one clicks the Reformat (i.e. refresh) icon.  Refreshing the display in such instances is not necessary from a database standpoint.  The change has been registered once the Save icon has been selected.  However, Refresh can offer useful confirmation if you do not remember if you really made a change or not.
  9. New bib and item records can only be created from a template.  Templates are created and stored locally. In order to share templates, they must be copied over a local area network or via floppy to all workstations that need them.
  10. The cataloging section of the main Innopac manuals have some documentation for GUI Cat. Additional information is available from the Help item on the GUI Cat menu, from http://csdirect.iii.com.
  11. Use rollover captions to familiarize yourself with GUI Cat icon functions.
  12. If advised that a newer version of the GUI Cat software is available, please immediately update, following onscreen directions. Older versions have been known to cause major database updating problems.