If you are withdrawing items from your collection, and there is more than one library attached to a bib record, simply delete your item record as usual, leaving all the other attached items alone, and remove your library’s initials from the bib record.  However, if you are the only library attached to the bib record, then you must delete that bib along with the item.

There are several ways to delete records in Sierra without leaving an “orphaned” bib record behind.  If your item is the only one attached to it, you can go the bib record edit screen, and click on “file” in the upper left corner.  Then select “delete bibliographic record” from the drop down menu.  Doing it this way will eliminate both the bib record and your item in one step.

If you prefer it, a second method of deleting records is to change the status of your item record to “w” (withdrawn).  This is a useful way to keep track of withdrawals if you like to keep a count for your statistics.  After you have changed the item status then you can create a list of all your library’s items marked “withdrawn” and then use that review list in the “Delete Records” mode.  This method allows you to globally delete all those “w” item records and the bibs they are attached to if no other libraries are attached.  If you are unable to use the Delete Records function, please contact the Maine InfoNet cataloging specialist at econway54@gmail.com and this will be done for you.

Finally, if you choose to use the “scan/delete” in Delete Records for withdrawing large batches of records, please be aware that this will delete your item records ONLY.  It will leave empty bibs behind, so for that reason it is not recommended unless absolutely necessary.

Remember to remove your library’s initials from the bib location if the bib record is going to stay in the system.  The overnight system update should automatically remove this for you, but there can be a small lag time or some other system issue that prevents this, so don’t skip this step.