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Workflow: Convert MARC files to GeoBlacklight Metadata files

This is a preliminary workflow to convert MARC metadata for historic and print maps into JSON metadata according to the GeoBlacklight 1.0 Metadata Schema. At this time, this workflow is intended for single maps without parent-child relationships or layer ids. This workflow also does not have an explicit step to convert URLs from MARC metadata into references, since the location of digital images will vary according to local needs. UUID identifiers can be generated for items through this workflow if needed.

Manual review and work will still be needed to create complete metadata under this process, but hopefully this workflow will be useful in three aspects:

• The ability to verify names of creators, publishers, and contributors from MARC metadata against the Library of Congress Name Authority File.
• The ability to convert geographic Library of Congress Subject Headings into hierarchical GeoNames.
• A conversion process that automates tasks when possible, but still allows for manual review and editing in a basic spreadsheet.

This workflow mainly relies on MarcEdit and Python scripts. The scripts can be found in this repository. This workflow takes a bundle of MARC files and converts the records to CSV for manual editing, while also incorporating steps to normalize data. Once editing to the CSV is completed, the CSV can be converted to JSON files.

For details on the workflow for each field, see the workflow by GeoBlacklight element chart.

There are seven steps to this conversion process:

1. Batch edit coordinates
2. Validate names in MARC
3. Convert MARC fields to a CSV
4. Clean up CSV metadata
5. Convert LCSH headings to GeoNames
6. Manually complete and review records
7. Convert completed CSV to JSON

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Go to next step (1. Batch edit coordinates)→

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