felix

felix, the cataloger's friend.

Introduction

felix is a command line tool that assists catalogers who work with digitized assets. It streamlines the process of reviewing digital assets, such as audio and image files. It also parses metadata and generates MARC fields, which can be copied directly into OCLC Connexion.

felix works with a separate module, called fido.py. Just like their canine and feline namesakes, fido.py will fetch files and metadata, and felix will hunt for something specific. All commands are performed through felix, while fido.py works behind the scenes. Let felix climb around the data from your xml trees and folder hierarchies so that you can save time and focus on the bigger picture.

Using felix

Usage: felix [-opt] [Your unique identifier]
	-d <display and copy to clipboard MARC300>
	-s <display and copy to clipboard MARC387>
	-p <display and copy to clipboard Processing Notes>
	-c <display and copy to clipboard MARC524>
	-l <display and copy to clipboard MARC852>
	-i <Open images in default viewer>
	-a <Play audio in default media player>
	-ak <Play audio in console, requires VLC CLI>
	-h <display this instructional message>

The data_warehouse.csv file will need to be pre-populated with metadata for felix to work properly. This can be done manually, or, more ideally, using code. felix is best applied in medium or high-volume contexts, where large quantities of files and their attendant metadata must be managed. For example, if the digitization process yields sidecar metadata xml files in a standard format, a script can be written to transfer information from those individual files to the data_warehouse.csv file. Note that as it is currently configured, felix only draws on some of the csv columns (durationMinutes, durationSeconds, filesizeKB, ProcessingNotes, and FolderPath). Like everything in this repository, the data_warehouse.csv file should be treated as an inspiration, not a final draft. These tools will need to be customized to your needs.

Demo

Included along with the basic felix.py, fido.py, and data_warehouse.csv files are a series of demo files, all appended with the string, "demo". They are designed to be used with the folder called "sample_repository_foldername", which is a skeletal version of of the sort of folder trees felix can climb. Imagine it with the same basic structure, but populated with hundreds or thousands more folders and multimedia files, along with whatever else your digitizer provides (e.g., sidecard metadata files, high-quality versions meant only for internal use or preservation, etc.)

Feel free to take felix for a spin by using the demo files.

Future steps

felix is a work in progress. As it is applied in different contexts, it will evolve. Here is a vision for near-term improvements:

1. Reduce the amount of hard-coding for MARC fields.
   • A more dynamic version would allow for more customization on the fly, perhaps by incorporating pymarc.
2. Improve parsing of system arguments and options for security and error-proofing.
3. Include some scripts in the repository for transferring metadata from common schemas to the data_warehouse.csv file.
4. Eliminate the need for a data_warehouse.csv file altogether, and instead configure felix.py and fido.py to operate directly on sidecar or embedded metadata.

Dependencies

In addition to the custom-made fido.py, felix requires the following modules:

• pyperclip (https://pypi.org/project/pyperclip/)
• subprocess (https://docs.python.org/3/library/subprocess.html)
• csv (https://docs.python.org/3/library/csv.html)
• sys (https://docs.python.org/3/library/sys.html)

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References

For more information on MARC, see the OCLC guide or the documentation provided by the Library of Congress.

felix was designed to parse and integrate metadata according to METS, MODS, MARC, and RDA.

Attributions

Code

• Python Command-Line Arguments
  • This tutorial provided the code I used for parsing system arguments and options.

Sample_id_a_1 assets:

• 'sample_id_a_1_asset_front.JPG' was originally called 'Cassette-tape_8192.jpg', posted by Wwongbc, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
• 'sample_id_a_1_side_a_streaming.ogg' was originally called 'Inkjet printer on and off.ogg', posted by stephan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sample_id_a_2 assets:

• 'sample_id_a_2_asset_front_and_back.JPG' was originally called 'Compact_audio_cassette_4.jpg', posted by Orion 8, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

• 'sample_id_a_2_side_a_streaming.ogg' was originally called 'Typing fast.ogg', posted by stephan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

• 'sample_id_a_2_side_b_streaming.ogg' was originally called 'Typing hunt and peck.ogg', posted by teto_yasha, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons