[Archivesspace_Users_Group] barcode validation for ASpace

[Benn Joseph]

Good afternoon,
Over the past few years, our standard procedure when processing a new collection has been to barcode the finished boxes and assign those barcodes to their Top Containers in ASpace.

ArchivesSpace does a great job of keeping a user from assigning a barcode that has already been assigned elsewhere--which we recently discovered after mistakenly being given a sheet of piggyback barcodes that had already been assigned to various other collections. The system reports an error: "Barcode - A barcode must be unique within a repository". Great!

One thing it doesn't do is check for valid barcodes against a schema. For instance, we try to be very careful about only using barcode scanners to enter barcodes into ArchivesSpace, but every now and then one will get entered by hand, or there will be an accidental keystroke after scanning. In those cases, it would be ideal if ASpace were able to validate this number to ensure that it's correct (I understand that Alma does this using a Codabar 13 validation routine, though there are other validation options that would also look for a check digit). Would this be a plugin? A feature request? Would it even be possible?

The reason it's important for us to ensure barcode accuracy is that a large volume of our collections get sent offsite to a facility that uses GFA as their inventory system. So, if we enter the barcode for a box that is incorrect in ASpace and GFA records it differently, it ends up being very difficult to recall that box if a researcher requests it.

Thanks!
--Benn

Benn Joseph
Head of Archival Processing
Northwestern University Libraries
Northwestern University
www.library.northwestern.edu
benn.joseph at northwestern.edu<mailto:benn.joseph at northwestern.edu%0d>
847.467.6581
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