The scripts for converting MARC to CSV and back are intended to make traditional library data amenable to processing by common tools (e.g., command-line tools).
marc2csv.py converts MARC to CSV. Usage: $ ./marc2csv.py marc_file. This creates a file named marc_file.csv. The outputted CSV has the following header:
- System number
- field tag
- number of field's occurrence
- first indicator
- secord indicator
- subfield label
- number of subfield's occurrence
- value
csv2marc.py converts CSV to MARC. It takes the CSV with the same structure as is in the output of marc2csv.py. Usage: $ ./csv2marc.py csv_file. The script produces a file named csv_file.mrc.
There is also a script to patch the CSVs generated from MARC - patchMARCCSV.py. It can be used to apply patches to a CSV file (e.g., clean values, strip characters). The patch has the same structure as the CSV file. Usage: $ ./patchMARCCSV.py input.csv patch.csv output.csv.